deus ex machina

views updated Jun 11 2018

deus ex machina an unexpected power or event saving a seemingly hopeless situation, especially as a contrived plot device in a play or novel. The phrase is modern Latin, a direct translation of Greek theos ek mēkhanēs ‘god from the machinery’, since in Greek theatre, actors representing gods were suspended above the stage, the denouement of the play being brought about by their intervention.

The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable ELIZABETH KNOWLES

Deus ex machina

views updated May 23 2018

Deus ex machina (Lat., ‘God out of the machine’). The device in classical theatre of bringing God on to the stage and into the action to resolve a problem in the plot; hence the introduction of an artificial solution to a problem.

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions JOHN BOWKER

Deus Ex Machina

views updated May 17 2018

Deus Ex Machina

See God of the Gaps; Skyhooks

Encyclopedia of Science and Religion

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Deus ex machina

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