Editing Deus ex machina (section)

==Origin of the expression==
''Deus ex machina'' is a Latin [[calque]] {{ety|gre|''ἀπὸ μηχανῆς θεός'' (apò mēkhanês theós)|god from the machine}}.<ref>One of the earliest occurrences of the phrase is in fragment 227 of [[Menander]]: ἀπὸ μηχανῆϛ θεὸς ἐπεφάνηϛ "You are by your epiphany a veritable god from the machine", as quoted in ''The Woman Possessed with a Divinity'', as translated in ''Menander: The Principal Fragments'' (1921) by [[:de:Francis Greenleaf Allinson|Francis Greenleaf Allinson]].</ref> The term was coined from the conventions of ancient Greek theater, where actors who were playing gods were brought on stage using a machine. The machine could be either a crane (''[[mechane]]'') used to lower actors from above or a riser that brought them up through a trapdoor. [[Aeschylus]] introduced the idea and it was used often to resolve the conflict and conclude the drama. The device is associated mostly with Greek tragedy, although it also appeared in comedies.<ref name="machine">{{cite journal |last1=Chondros |first1=Thomas G. |last2=Milidonis |first2=Kypros|last3=Vitzilaios |first3=George |last4=Vaitsis|first4=John |title="Deus-Ex-Machina" reconstruction in the Athens theater of Dionysus |journal=Mechanism and Machine Theory |date=September 2013 |volume=67 |pages=172–191 |doi=10.1016/j.mechmachtheory.2013.04.010}}<!--|access-date=15 December 2014--></ref>

===Ancient examples===
[[Aeschylus]] used the device in his ''[[The Eumenides|Eumenides]]'' but it became an established stage machine with [[Euripides]]. More than half of Euripides' extant tragedies employ a ''deus ex machina'' in their resolution and some critics claim that Euripides invented it, not Aeschylus.<ref>Rehm (1992, 72) and Walton (1984, 51).</ref> A frequently cited example is Euripides' ''[[Medea (play)|Medea]]'' in which the ''deus ex machina'' is a dragon-drawn chariot sent by the sun god [[Helios]], used to convey his granddaughter [[Medea]] away from her husband [[Jason]] to the safety of Athens. In ''[[Alcestis (play)|Alcestis]]'', the heroine agrees to give up her own life to spare the life of her husband Admetus. At the end, [[Heracles]] appears and seizes Alcestis from Death, restoring her to life and to Admetus.

[[Aristophanes]]' play ''[[Thesmophoriazusae]]'' parodies Euripides' frequent use of the crane by making Euripides himself a character in the play and bringing him on stage by way of the ''mechane''.

The device produced an immediate emotional response in Greek audiences. They would have a feeling of wonder and astonishment at the appearance of the gods, which would often add to the moral effect of the drama.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Cunningham |first1=Maurice P.|title=Medea ΑΠΟ ΜΗΧΑΝΗΣ|journal=Classical Philology |date=July 1954 |volume=49 |issue=3 |pages=151–160 |jstor = 265931 |doi = 10.1086/363788 |s2cid=163893448}}<!--|access-date=28 September 2014--></ref>

===Modern theatrical examples===
[[File:Set design Act5 of Andromède by P Corneille 1650 - Gallica 2010.jpg|thumb|Characters ascend into heaven to become gods at the end of the 1650 play ''[[Andromède]]''.]]
[[Shakespeare]] uses the device in ''[[As You Like It]]'', ''[[Pericles, Prince of Tyre]]'', and ''[[Cymbeline]]''.<ref>Rehm (1992, 70).</ref> [[John Gay]] uses it in ''[[The Beggar's Opera]]'' where a character breaks the action and rewrites the ending as a reprieve from hanging for MacHeath. <!--- NOTE: The following is hidden because A) the first sentence is utterly incomprehensible, and B) it borders on original research and does not further this section: In both plays, the ''deus ex machina'' happens with breaking the dramatic illusion often in the form of an episodic narrator exposing the play itself and laying bare the author. This is different from the use of the ''deus ex machina'' in the ancient examples with the ending coming from a participant in the action in the form of a god. It is natural for the gods to be considered participants and not outside sources because of their privileged position and power. These attributes allow the Greek gods to believably wrap up and solve the series of events.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Dunn|first1=Francis M|title=Tragedy's End : Closure and Innovation in Euripidean Drama: Closure and Innovation in Euripidean Drama |date=1996 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York, New York}}</ref>---> During the politically turbulent 17th and 18th centuries, the ''deus ex machina'' was sometimes used to make a controversial thesis more palatable to the powers of the day. For example, in the final scene of [[Molière]]'s ''[[Tartuffe]]'', the heroes are saved from a terrible fate by an agent of the compassionate, all-seeing King [[Louis XIV]] – the same king who held Molière's career and livelihood in his hands.<ref>[http://www.novelguide.com/a/discover/dfs_18/dfs_18_00023.html "Tartuffe: Novel Guide"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120121065505/http://www.novelguide.com/a/discover/dfs_18/dfs_18_00023.html |date=2012-01-21 }}. 2003. Retrieved 2&nbsp;November 2011.</ref>