From the haka to Whale Rider, Māori songs, poems, and stories have become central to New Zealand identity at home and abroad. At the same time, Greco-Roman antiquity has also played a small but significant role in New Zealand letters. But what do Greece and Rome have to do with Māori culture? Not much, on the face of it: Greek and Latin are Indo-European languages; Māori is Austronesian; Aotearoa–New Zealand was discovered and settled by Polynesian navigators. And yet, nevertheless: ancient Greece and Rome are present in Māori literature; Māori writers’ interactions with the classics, though far from numerous, are uniquely significant; these interactions represent a new way of addressing biculturalism in Oceania.
Dr Simon Perris is a senior lecturer in ancient languages, myth, and literature at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. His research concentrates on two areas: Greek tragedy, especially Euripides, and the reception of classical literature in contemporary literature.