Saturday, March 3, 2012

Deus ex machina is a Greek invention, as far as I know. What is the Greek term for Deus ex machina?

And is there a reason for why it's known by a Latin name and not the Greek name?Deus ex machina is a Greek invention, as far as I know. What is the Greek term for Deus ex machina?
Poop

Poop

Poop!
Well... I'm greek. There is a greek term and it means "god from a machine".The machine was something like a crank.Lowering a actor/"god" to help the main actor if he was in dead end.The Latin word is more wellknown because Romans conquered everything...

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Deus ex machina is a Greek invention, as far as I know. What is the Greek term for Deus ex machina?
god of a machine or machine god

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according to wikipedia, the greeks may have used it first, but the romans were the first to name it.Deus ex machina is a Greek invention, as far as I know. What is the Greek term for Deus ex machina?
Are you asking about "Deus ex machina" as a plot device or as a literal aspect of a performance?



As a plot device -- the unexpected appearance of a God (or similar figure) at the end of a play who resolves all things-- that's been used by playwrights who got themselves into a pickle for millenia.



As an actual machine -- Something that flies in at the end of the play to disgorge the divine being that answers everything -- I think that may have been a Roman invention. Sounds like them, anyway -- canny mechanical types, rather than the more theoretical Greeks....





In whatever sense,I imagine it's retained a Latin name because Latin was a much more common language than Greek during most of Western Civilization ... and it uses the same alphabet as English and other Western languages.
I'm not entirely certain, but it was a good album though!
"Spana kopita" which means "spinach pie" and if that doesn't explain why people use the latin instead of the greek, I can't really help you.

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