15. [Nike(The Winged Victory).] A marble statue believed to have been set up by Demetrius Poliorcetes to celebrate a naval victory in 306 B. C. Found in 1863 by the French consul on the island of Samothrace. Now in the Louvre, Paris.

I

BUST OF ZEUS OTRICOLI

From the earliest times men have sought to explain in one way and another the common facts of daily life. Sunrise and sunset, seedtime and harvest, life, death, and the hereafter are some of the mysteries which have always puzzled the human mind. The primitive races, knowing nothing of science, looked upon the forces of nature as gigantic personalities, or gods, who controlled human destiny.

The most refined and imaginative of the ancient nations were the Greeks. They invented innumerable tales or myths, in which all the changes of nature and all the affairs of life were attributed to the workings of the gods. When the sun rose, they said that Apollo had begun to drive his chariot across the sky. When the wind blew, Zeus was sending his messenger from the sky to the earth. When a man did a courageous deed, it was because Athena had whispered to him what to do.

In this way the beliefs gradually took form which made the Greek religion. Great temples were built for the worship of the gods, and statues were set up in their honor. The finest works of Greek art were connected with religious worship.