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Amechane (/ˈmɛkəniː/;Greek:μηχανή,mēkhanḗ) ormachine was acrane used inGreek theatre, especially in the 5th and 4th centuries BC. Made of wooden beams and pulley systems, the device was used to lift an actor into the air, usually representing flight. This stage machine was particularly used to bring gods onto the stage from above,[1] hence the Latin termdeus ex machina ("god from themachine").Euripides' use of the mechane inMedea (431 BCE) is a notable use of the machine for a non-divine character. It was also often used byAeschylus.
Stage machines were also used inancient Rome, e.g. during the sometimes highly dramatic performances atfunerals. ForJulius Caesar's funeral service,Appian reports a mechane that was used to present a blood-stained waxeffigy of the deceaseddictator to the funeral crowd. The mechane was used to turn the body in all directions.[2]Geoffrey Sumi proposes that the use of the mechane "hinted at Caesar'sdivinity."[3] This is highly unlikely because Appian doesn't describe the mechane as a genuinedeus-ex-machina device. Furthermore Caesar'sapotheosis wasn't legally conducted until 42 BCE and Caesar had only been worshipped unofficially asdivus during his lifetime. First and foremost,Marcus Antonius attempted to arouse the masses as a means to strengthen Caesar's esteem as well as his own political power.[4]
InChristian liturgy the mechane has also been identified with thecross.Ignatius calls the cross the "theatre mechane" ofJesus Christ.[5]
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