Latin expression explained (22): Deus ex machina.

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Latin expression explained (22): Deus ex machina.

This Latin expression belongs to the domain of theatre. It means « God from the machine ». This corresponds to the appearance of a god or goddess using a machine to effect the denouement of the play. These « machine plays » were common in ancient Greek times. Using a crane, a pulley mechanism, a platform would descend onto the stage with an actor playing the God or goddess in question.

One can find many denouements of this type in the plays of Euripides (-480; -406), for example in Iphigenia at Aulis, the goddess Artemis intervenes at the end to save Iphigenia from sacrifice just in time. Today, Deus ex machina characterizes an unexpected denouement that comes out of nowhere. This type of ending allows for surprising the audience, taking the characters out of impossible situations through an unexpected external intervention. Outside of the world of the arts and entertainment, a Deus ex machina is an unexpected, external, and surprising intervention.

I avoided catastrophe through some kind of Deus ex machina.

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