Mechane
A mechane (/ˈmɛkəniː/; Greek: μηχανή, mēkhanḗ) or machine was a crane used in Greek 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 term deus ex machina ("god from the machine"). Euripides' use of the mechane in Medea (431 BC) is a notable use of the machine for a non-divine character. It was also often used by Aeschylus. It was used to allow actors playing gods to fly through the air.
Use in ancient Rome
Stage machines were also used in
divus 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]
Religious significance
In
Christ.[5]
See also
- Divus Julius
Notes
- ^ Plato, Crat. 425d; Clit. 407a
- ^ App. B.C. 2.147. τὸ μὲν γὰρ σῶμα, ὡς ὕπτιον ἐπὶ λέχους, οὐχ ἑωρᾶτο. τὸ δὲ ἀνδρείκελον ἐκ μηχανῆς ἐπεστρέφετο πάντῃ. Suetonius only reports a tropaeum to which the effigy (simulacrum) was affixed. (Jul. 84)
- ISBN 978-0-472-11517-4
- ^ That Caesar's resurrectio as god happened later during the funeral as he was cremated, and that it spawned the early Caesarian cult by the Pseudo-Marius, can't explain Antonius' intentions for using a mechane during the funeral.
- ^ Ignatius of Antioch: Letter to the Ephesians IX, I. ἀναφερόμενοι εἰς τὰ ὕψη διὰ τῆς μηχανῆς Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, ὅς ἐστιν σταυρός.
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