Nike

On the Greek Island of Samothrace, the natives are born dispossessed. They mourn the loss of their Nike, the most beautiful of classical statues, the timeless embodiment of victory and grace. For centuries she was the island's soul, the winged protectress of the Sanctuary of the Great Gods. Buried by an earthquake, she was recovered in the 1860s by a French antiquarian - only to be whisked away to ornament the Louvre. No one feels this loss, this grudge, so deeply as Photi Anthropotis. Keeper of the sanctuary's ruins, the damaged, hapless Photi dreams of glory, of rescuing his goddess in distress. He is abetted in his fantasy by two beautiful women, an innocent, love-starved French museum guard and a glamorous narcissistic American documentary filmmaker. Together they hatch the art theft of the century - together, but each to his or her own ends.

First sentence: SHE IS A SOUND TO US, the sound her name gives to a morning when the sea appears and becomes a golden mirror.

Year

1998

Language

English

Publisher

Houghton Mifflin

Editions

2

Pages

179

ISBN

9780395883969

Data source: Wikidata