I spent almost three weeks in New Zealand during the austral summer in February. As I had been able to collect unusual references to Greco-Roman antiquity while traveling in Japan or in Australia, so I had the pleasure of making unexpected discoveries in New Zealand. First, I found mottos in Latin, then so many references to ancient languages that I had to select among my pictures in order to avoid writing too long a post!
The first inhabitants of New Zealand were the Polynesian ancestors of the present Maori who arrived around the thirteenth century A.D. They gradually settled in the two large islands forming the country.
Later, contacts with European explorers, soldiers, merchants (Dutchmen in the 17th century, French and English in the 18th) allowed to establish trade relations, but also triggered wars. After the Maori and the English signed the Treaty of Waitangi (1840), New Zealand became a member of the British Empire and then of the Commonwealth.
Its history explains the Greco-Roman presence in the European influence on the country.
N.B. I circled in yellow the places I mention in this post.
In the north-east of the North island, in the Bay of Islands site, near the Waitangi Treaty Grounds, I saw in the dining room of a hotel in Russell a portrait of Victoria, Queen of Great Britain and Ireland and sovereign of New Zealand (from 1840 to 1901).
On this portrait we read the Maori name of New Zealand Aotearoa and the Latin inscription Victoria Britanniarum Regina, i.e. ‘Victoria, Queen of British islands.’
In the Bay of Islands I also found a shop ‘Neptunes’ (see cover above). As Neptunes was the god of the Sea for the Romans, it is an appropriate name in this place which counts more than one hundred and forty islands!
Finally, in the Russell Mission where, in the 19th century, the French missionary Pompallier set up a tannery and a printery to make Bibles and evangelize the local population, the garden of the property has a sundial. On this sundial two Latin words are written: Tempus fugit.
These words, meaning ‘Time flies’ or ‘Time flees’, are borrowed from Virgil’s Georgics (III, 284), a poetic treatise dealing with rural topics. They also suit a sundial.
A peaceful country, New Zealand, however, has spent much of its history in internal wars (19th century) and overseas (WWI and WWII, in 20th century).
In Auckland, the capital, a monument is dedicated to the dead of the WWI (or Great War). While the country had one million inhabitants, 100,000 soldiers went to fight in Europe and, among them, 60,000 were wounded, especially in France.
On the four sides of the obelisk’s pedestal are written the Latin words: QUI PALMAM MERUIT FERAT, i.e. ‘Whoever has earned the palm, let him bear it!’
Since the Greco-Roman antiquity ‘a leaf of a palm is awarded as a prize or viewed as a symbol of victory’, according to the Oxford Dictionary of English.
Near Auckland, Waiheke Island is developing a new notoriety by producing wine and olive oil. For example, in the Stonyridge Vineyard I saw this Italian olive press with the effigy of Pegasus, the mythical swift-winged Greek horse. Also I discovered the newest international guide, entitled in Latin Flos olei, i.e. ‘The flower of the oil’, and selecting the best olive oils.
And to confirm the idea that this olive oil is good for health, the tasting bar displays a precept of Hippocrates, Greek doctor of 5th-4th centuries B.C.
He once said: ‘Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.’
Napier was almost completely destroyed by an earthquake in 1931 and was rebuilt in the Arts Deco style that prevailed at the time of its destruction.
While walking the streets of Napier to admire the architecture and the colors of houses and shops, I came across this building of the Australian Mutual Provident Society.
At the top of this building you can see a group of ‘antique’ sculptures. In addition, an inscription in Latin says: Amicus certus in re incerta.
This sentence (lacking the verb “cernitur”) comes from the treatise on friendship written by Cicero. He himself borrowed it from the Latin poet Ennius. It means: ‘A true friend (is discerned) during an uncertain matter’ — in other words, ‘When Fortune is fickle the faithful friend is found.’
Nowadays it serves as a promotional slogan for an insurance company.
In Wellington I was amazed by these works of art placed in front of the Te Papa Museum.
On one of the globes there appears a strange geography of the Underworld of the Greco-Roman antiquity. The toponyms come mostly from the Greek mythology. Even if the spelling is sometimes fanciful, we recognize place names, as: Tartarus (‘a part of the underworld where the wicked suffered punishment for their misdeeds‘, according to the Oxford Dictionary of English), Elysion (‘the plain of the blessed‘, O.D.E.), Charontis lucus (the sacred wood of Charon) and Charontis trivium (the crossroads of Charon, ‘an old man who ferried the souls of the dead across the Rivers Styx and Acheron to Hades‘, O.D.E.). We also recognize the names of gods and heroes: Jason (who conquered the Golden Fleece), Polyfemus (the cyclops deceived by the wily Ulysses), Hecatis (infernal deity), Cerberus (the three-headed dog guardian of the Underworld), Orcus (Roman god of the Underworld, whose name no one must say) etc.
In contrast to the Underground world, in the Wellington Botanical Garden a sundial praises the sun: Sol est lux et gloria mundi.
Presented by Wellington Herb Society in 1975, this sentence means: ‘The sun is the light and glory of the world.’ By the way, it was the motto of a noble family in England (18th century).
In the South Island of New Zealand I visited two cities: Christchurch and Dunedin.
In Christchurch a verse of Virgil caught my attention.
The inscription Ergo tua rura manebunt is taken from the Book I of Bucolics, a pastoral poem celebrating nature and rural life. Bucolics‘ Book I shows two shepherds, Meliboeus and Tityrus, and reflects the period of civil war, when property owners of northern Italy were dispossessed to provide land for discharged soldiers of Octavian, a.k.a. (future) Emperor Augustus. Meliboeus is among the exiles and laments the fact that the land he has cultivated must fall in the hands of some ignorant veteran. Thus, he tells Tityrus, who has escaped the general spoliation: Ergo tua rura manebunt, i.e. ‘So your fields will stay (implied with you).’
In the context of ancient Rome, Virgil (through Meliboeus) deplores the discord, the civil war and forced rural exodus. In the modern context of New Zealand the same sentence shows the importance of agriculture and livestock in the past, present and future economy of the Christchurch area.
As for Dunedin, this city teems with buildings that bear a Greek or a Latin name.
Here are, for example, Greek names:
What is funny (for me) is that these Greek names have become English words, as such. Therefore, no need to explain!
I also met Latin words, like this Café called Insomnia (keeping people awake with coffee) and this garage whose sign bears the inscription (a little erased by the years) Invicta (‘unbeaten’).
I finally stopped in a confortable place, a wine bar dedicated to Bacchus, the Roman god of Vine and Wine.
But do not think that I drank too much and write anything!
Of course, New Zealand evokes majestic fjords or sounds, huge ferns, innumerable birds (not only those that are never seen, as kiwis and platypus), Maori, rugbymania etc. All this exists, and I hope I have made you, with my distant ancient references, feel like going to see it closely!