These statues are intended to represent the victory of a war, hence the name "victory". The Winged Victory of Samothrace is a statue thought to represent the goddess Nike landing on a ship after a naval victory (Cothren 123). This statue is positioned to make it appear as if it is boarding a ship. The sculptor creates this by detailing her in a way that suggests the wind is blowing against her. Furthermore, its wings are in a position that suggests it is landing on something. Just like most Greek statues, the Goddess Nike represents important ideals of Greek culture. Nike represents victory over some sort of battle, whether it is a battle with others or with oneself. Winning wars in ancient times was important because it showed other countries how dominant an empire was. Having a strong army that wins many wars, puts fear into the empires around the Greeks due to the intimidation factor. The more victories an army has, the stronger it is and the less empires will try to overthrow an empire. In Greek culture, there are many victories that prove that the Greek army was strong, which symbolizes that Greek society as a whole was a dominant empire. Victories are important statues because they remind people of history, but they also remind them to thank the Gods for allowing their society to prosper. Gods are important figures that the Greeks admired and worshiped. This happened not only for the Greeks, but also for other empires, such as the Romans, who admired and adored them