University of Chicago

The Nike brand is one of the most iconic and recognized symbols in the modern world with its “swoosh” and ubiquitous tag line “Just Do It.” However, few know that Nike is rooted in Classical tradition. Nike is the winged Greek goddess of strength, speed, and victory. Though the phrase “Just Do It” is credited to an ad agency in the late 1980s, the ancient Romans beat them to it. Horatius Flaccus, a Roman poet, coined the phrase “Carpe Diem” (pluck the day) that captured the spirit of “Just Do It” almost two thousand years earlier. Having a Greek and Italian mother and a Korean father, I have…