Deus Ex Machina

Cranes to fly people

In the Greek and Roman theatre of antiquity, cranes were used to raise and lower actors onto the stage, often to represent the arrival of the gods – an effect known as deus ex machina, literally ‘god out of the machine’.

Model showing crane, Thessaloniki Technology Museum Attribution: Gts-tg

The Latin phrase deus ex machina is borrowed from the Greek (apò mēchanḗs theós) and originally denotes the appearance of a deity with the help of stage machinery. It was a flying machine that began to be used in Greek theatre in the 5th century BCE. It was used to make quick and magical appearances and disappearances of certain characters.

Effects of deus ex machina. Euripides' Medea directed by Krzysztof Zanussi, performed in Siracuse, Italy (2009) © I, Sailko

In Greek antiquity the effect was achieved with a crane, probably already used for the construction of buildings, which was adapted for use in the theatre as a flying machine. It consisted of an inclined shaft fitted with a pulley on which ropes and a hook ran, operated by a winch, although there are no precise references as to how exactly it worked. It seems likely that it was fixed to the top of the skene (paraskenia), behind the back wall, which concealed part of its function. It was able to raise and lower people vertically, although it is also possible that it could have been able to fly with a change of direction, as some references indicate that the crane could rotate on its base, so creating a panning action.

Greco-Roman trispastos (‘Three-pulley-crane’), a simple crane type capable of a 150 kg load Attribution: Eric Gaba

The end used to lift the performer from the ground took different forms, such as a celestial chariot or a griffin (a mythological animal), although some written testimonies of the period suggest that, on occasions, the figures were hung directly from a hook, or landed on the roof of the stage house. The effect was particularly suited to the appearance of the gods from the top of the skene and their descent to the stage, and their subsequent ascent and disappearance above the skene wall again. The simplest constructional version suggests that the machine consisted of a counterbalanced beam, operated by a rope, and in more complex versions, when the structure of the skene was larger, it seems possible that a winch was incorporated for its movement. Certainly Vitruvius (Q467) in the 1st century BCE described cranes and hoists, with windlasses and pulleys to allow heavy loads to be lifted with ease, although he does not relate these technologies with the theatre. At the Dionysos theatre (Q7829) there are two holes measuring 70x70cm and 125x70cm respectively which are possible anchoring foundations for a crane mast and winch, suggesting it was of a substantial size.

In ancient tragedy, there were tragic conflicts that could not always be resolved by human action. Their resolution or decision came ‘from above’ through the surprising intervention of a deity who gave the events their final turn. This was done to represent the power of the gods in the ancient imagination, and indeed their interventions in the stage action were often surprising. The earliest recorded use in a theatrical performance is in 431 BCE in Euripides’ Medea, during the 87th Olympiad, where at the end of the play, the heroine Medea was lifted off the stage in the chariot of the god Helios by this device, leaving her dead children below. Many of Euripides’ tragedies have as their denouement the appearance of a divinity from heaven, who resolves the plot. However, the playwright’s intention emphasised the fact that humans are subject to the laws of the gods, who are in ultimate control of their existence.

In Greek and Roman theatre, the deus ex machina appeared as a surprise to the astonished audience. Today, the term is also used for a plot device whereby a seemingly unsolvable problem in a story is suddenly and abruptly resolved by an unexpected and unlikely occurrence. Its function is also to surprise the audience, to bring the tale to a happy ending, or act as a comic device. For example, in Brecht’s Threepenny Opera, the ‘King’s messenger on horseback’ implausibly arrives to save Macheath from being hanged – an element of epic theatre that emphasises the inherent injustice and randomness of the world in a comic way.

In entertainment media, deus ex machina is often also a tool used by authors to move the story in the desired direction by simple, unexplained means, which is why the expression is usually used pejoratively as a criticism of the authors’ writing ability and denotes the inability to create a plot with continuous logical connections. One of the earliest known stage effects and mechanisms lives on as a term for a plot device that audiences find highly improbable, but thrilling and satisfying.