Upon the death of Alexander the Great there was much disputing among his
generals as to what should become of the various provinces of his
empire, including Greece. It was finally decided that the Greek cities
should be left free. A general named Ptolemy soon broke this agreement
and entered Greece, whereupon another named Antigonus promptly proceeded
to punish him. Antigonus had a son Demetrius, who was a skilful
engineer, and was called Poliorcetes, "besieger of cities," for his
success in raising sieges. He was sent to Athens with a fleet of two
hundred and fifty ships, and won the gratitude of the city for
delivering it from the hands of Ptolemy. Demetrius next turned his
attention to the island of Cyprus, of which Ptolemy was in possession.
The rival forces met off Salamis, 306 B. C., in a fierce sea fight, and
Demetrius was victorious.
Now the Greeks were fond of commemorating notable events by the erection
of statues, and it was an old custom among them to set up a statue of
victory in honor of any success of arms on land or sea. We have seen how
natural it was for them to attribute the affairs of life to the agency
of the deities. So in war, greatly as they praised their armies and
their generals, it was to Nike, the goddess of victory, that they gave
the chief credit of success. This goddess was conceived as a winged
being attendant upon both Zeus and Athena, who, as we have seen,
controlled the destinies of war.
To Nike then, this winged goddess of victory, was due the wonderful
success of Demetrius over Ptolemy's fleet before Salamis, and it was
fitting that her statue should commemorate the event. The spot chosen
for it was the island of Samothrace, which stands so high above water
level that it is very conspicuous in the northern Greek archipelago.
The goddess was represented standing on the prow of a vessel as if
leading the fleet to success. It may be that the old Greek idea of a
goddess at the prow was the origin of the "figure head" for so many
years carried by every ship that sailed the seas. The vessels in those
old days were called _triremes_, being propelled by rowers who sat at
their oars in three _tiers_, or banks, which gave the name to the craft.
The goddess stood in the middle of what was called the _ikrion proras_,
which would correspond to the forecastle deck. In her right hand she
held a trumpet to her lips, and in her left she carried a crosstree, the
framework of a trophy.
[Illustration: Neurdein Fr[`e]res, Photo. John Andrew & Son, Sc.