A mechane (; , 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,[Plato, Crat. 425d; Clit. 407a] hence the Latin term deus ex machina ("god from the machine"). Euripides' use of the mechane in Medea (431 BCE) is a notable use of the machine for a non-divine character. It was also often used by Aeschylus.
Use in ancient Rome
Stage machines were also used in
ancient Rome, e.g. during the sometimes highly dramatic performances at funerals. For
Julius Caesar's funeral service,
Appian reports a mechane that was used to present a blood-stained wax
effigy of the deceased
Roman dictator to the funeral crowd. The mechane was used to turn the body in all directions.
[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 Tropaion to which the effigy ( simulacrum) was affixed. ( Jul. 84)] Geoffrey Sumi proposes that the use of the mechane "hinted at Caesar's
divinity."
[Geoffrey S. Sumi: Ceremony and Power — Performing Politics in Rome between Republic and Empire (Ann Arbor 2005. 107–109, chapter Caesar ex machina). ] This is highly unlikely because Appian doesn't describe the mechane as a genuine
deus-ex-machina device. Furthermore Caesar's
apotheosis wasn't legally conducted until 42 BCE and Caesar had only been worshipped unofficially as
divus during his lifetime. First and foremost,
Mark Antony attempted to arouse the masses as a means to strengthen Caesar's esteem as well as his own political power.
[That Caesar's Resurrection as god happened later during the funeral as he was Cremation, and that it spawned the early Caesarian cult by the Pseudo-Marius, can't explain Antonius' intentions for using a mechane during the funeral.]
Religious significance
In Christian liturgy the mechane has also been identified with the
Christian cross. Ignatius calls the cross the "theatre mechane" of
Jesus Christ.
[Ignatius of Antioch: Letter to the Ephesians IX, I. ἀναφερόμενοι εἰς τὰ ὕψη διὰ τῆς μηχανῆς Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, ὅς ἐστιν σταυρός.]
See also
Notes
