Deus ex machina: Difference between revisions

Latin for “god out of the machine” or "god from the machine" depending on what refrences you use. The term originated in Greek theaters and was eventually translated into Latin. It came about when a [http://depthome.brooklyn.cuny.edu/classics/dunkle/comedy/intro19.htm mechane] (a crane) would lower a person or persons playing the role of a god or gods to find a solution to a hopeless situation. This formed the phrase “god from the crane” and eventually crane was changed to machine. Lass, Kiremidjian, and Goldstein state that, "Now the term has come to mean any rescuing agency introduced by the author to bring about a desired conclustion, usually without regard to the logic of character or situations" (70).