“Deus-Ex-Machina” reconstruction in the Athens theater of Dionysus Thomas G. Chondros ⁎, Kypros Milidonis, George Vitzilaios, John Vaitsis University of Patras, Mech. Eng. & Aeron. Dept., Machine Theory Lab, Greece article info abstract Article history: Received 9 October 2012 Received in revised form 5 April 2013 Accepted 20 April 2013 Available online 17 May 2013 The intervention of a divinity in the action of a drama to resolve a conflict and, often, to bring the action to a conclusion was accomplished with ancient stagecraft, in which an actor playing the deity would be physically lowered by an elaborate piece of equipment into the stage area. This “god from the machine” was literally a Deus-Ex-Machina. Detailed information on stage scenery and machinery in the ancient theater are given by Vitruvius (1st Century BC) and Pollux (3rd Century AD). From the numerous references to such machines in extant tragedies or comedies and vase paintings, information about its design and operation is available, and efforts to reconstruct such mechanisms have been reported in the literature. Based on archeological evidence from the theater of Dionysus Eleuthereus in the western slope of the hill of the Acropolis, and previous reconstruction efforts, a new reconstruction attempt of the mechanism is presented. Analytical and numerical methods were incorporated to analyze the most conceivable loading situations of the different structural elements of the mechanism, as well as kinematics and dynamics, along with theater reconstruction. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Deus-Ex-Machina Mechanism reconstruction Dionysus Theater 1. Introduction The ancient Greek theater was born in the 6th Century BC out of a form of a single actor dance drama that flourished in the Dorian parts of Greece. It reached a period of maturity by the 5th Century BC. Greek tragedies and comedies were always performed in outdoor theaters. Performances were given throughout the day and lasted for several days [1–6]. Aeschylos (525– 456 BC) introduced the idea of a god, which would emerge suddenly from behind the skênê building, over the roof and (perhaps) into the Orchestra area to resolve a conflict and, often, to conclude the drama. The instrument for this operation was called mêchanê equivalent to the Latin term machina. Very few details are known about the theatrical mechanism, but it is certain that they were substantial mechanisms for path and motion generation [7–11]. The word Mechanism is a derivative of the Greek word mêchanê (which meant machine, in Greek). While it was used for the first time by Homer in the Iliad to describe the political manipulation, it was used with its modern meaning first in Aeschylus' time to describe the stage machine used to bring the gods or the heroes of the tragedy on stage, known with the Latin term Deus ex Machina. Its literal sense, “god from the machine” comes from ancient stagecraft, in which an actor playing the deity would be physically lowered by a crane-like mechanism, the mêchanê, into the stage area. The earliest known use of the mêchanê is assigned to Aeschylus, who utilized several theatrical devices for the staging of his tragedy. Sophocles (496–406 BC) utilized the mêchanê to introduce Heracles at the end of Philoctetes to induce the title character to leave for Troy. The mêchanê was used in tragedies and comedies alike. The preparation and pick-up of the actors (and in some cases of horses and chariots too) was done from behind the skênê building. Aristotle (ca. 384–322 BC) on the contrary, recommends against using this technique to resolve the plots of tragedies, suggesting that its proper place is for staging commentaries by the gods that lie outside the actual action of the drama [8–10]. Mêchanê–Mechanism, in turn, means an assemblage of machines and was used by Aristophanes (ca. 448–380 BC). Mechanism and Machine Theory 67 (2013) 172–191 ⁎ Corresponding author at: University of Patras, Mech. Eng. & Aeron. Dept., Machine Theory Lab, 26500 Patras, Greece. Tel.: +30 2610997264, fax: +30 2610997744. E-mail addresses: chondros@mech.upatras.gr (T.G. Chondros), milidon@mech.upatras.gr (K. Milidonis), vitzilaios@mech.upatras.gr (G. Vitzilaios), jvaitsis@mech.upatras.gr (J. Vaitsis). 0094-114X/$ – see front matter © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.mechmachtheory.2013.04.010 Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Mechanism and Machine Theory journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/mechmt