The Labours of Herakles

Having arrived on the Endeavour during Maguire’s earlier series, The Odyssey of Captain Cook, the ancient Greeks have resolved to settle the New Land.

In this collection of twelve lithographs and eight etchings Herakles, the archetypal muscle-bound hero of Greek mythology, is cast as New Zealand colonist and in that role he sets about the tasks necessary to claim and tame the land, to transform it as part of the wave of change, the persistent influx from the West.

Through most of this series Maguire draws Herakles in the style of black-figure vase painting from Athens 550–500 BC: his silhouetted profile is generally hooded by his trademark lion pelt and he is carrying his other identifier, a heavy club made from the knobby trunk of an olive tree. But Maguire also personifies Herakles with a face borrowed from a French lithograph of the rangitira Natai (first drawn during the voyage of the Astrolabe, 1826–1829). By omitting the moko and adding the lion skin the face becomes that of Herakles: the similarities and differences between himself and the tangata whenua become more apparent.

Herakles, fathered by Zeus himself, is the get-it-done character of Greek mythology to whom was given a list of twelve tasks by King Eurystheus. Most of these involved the slaying or taming of animals and monsters and making the environment safe for human habitation.

In this series Maguire gives Herakles a new list of tasks. She casts him as New Zealand pioneer, but unlike the hero of classical mythology Maguire’s Herakles is not always successful. Despite his considerable physical ability, the enormity of the work ahead at times dismays him. Clad in lion-skin and wielding his club, Herakles displays strength, persistence, resilience. Set a challenge, he will do his utmost to see the task successfully completed, without for a moment questioning the rights or wrongs of the instruction. These qualities would have advantaged any pioneer tasked with transforming this country, however the Arcadia of Herakles’ dream is within no easy reach and while, for the most part, he can reflect upon his labours with pride, his satisfaction is tinged with doubt.
New Zealand’s Treaty settlement process has made us very aware of the human cost of colonialism to the Maori people. It is easy to turn away from this era out of discomfort but it was an incredibly rich period of our history and a time during which great strength of character was required and often exhibited by Pakeha and Maori, both.

“…[Maguire] has combined authoritative borrowings and reworkings of earlier images – historical lithographs, pre-colonial drawings, old photographs, and the art and text of classical vases – to present layer upon layer of detailed myth and meaning, reference and allusion, appropriation and reinterpretation.” Rosa Shiels

Event listed by kevinwhcag3

View their other events or contact promoter