Deux Ex Machinas

We've talked about the deus ex machina in Greek theater a bit in class, but I after reading about the cool-sounding dragon-pulled chariot that Medea rides, I was interested and did a little more research. As a review, deus ex machina is a latin phrase meaning god from the machine and refers to how gods in Greek plays were literally carried by machines to show them flying. Gods often came into the action at the end of plays and resolved lots of issues, so the term has come to mean any unexpected plot device that resolves conflict, often in a somewhat unsatisfying way. In Medea, there is no god who comes into the action, but she is saved by Helios who gives her a chariot so that she can escape Corinth. Over half of Euripides' tragedies employ some sort of deus ex machina, which are used in different ways. In Alcestis, for example, the main character Alcestis sacrifices herself for her husband, but Heracles comes down from the machine to save her from death. In his play Thesmophoriazusae, Aristophanes has Euripides himself come down from the machine to poke fun at his frequent use of the plot device. Below I included some pictures that I found depicting this interesting institution of Greek theater.