Divine Manifestations: Gods and Machines in 5th-Century BCE Greek Tragedy

Abstract

The use of stage machinery to achieve spectacular effects in ancient Greek tragedy is a common embellishment to conceptions of how these plays were staged: the so-called deus ex machina convention. While stagings “on high” were certainly used in tragic plays, their frequency need not have been as widespread as often thought, nor achieved via the mēchanē (crane) as often as is posited. Based on a practical approach to theatrical stage conventions, mechanics, and the archaeological remains of the Theater of Dionysos in Athens, this paper suggests a more conservative reconstruction of ancient production in order to highlight how such an approach unlocks new staging possibilities. Moreover, by grounding divine appearances in the mechanical logistics of the 5th-c. BCE theater, the transformative nature of tragic performance is brought to the fore in a holistic way.