Deus ex machina [A god from the machine].

“Deus ex machina” is a Latin label for a stage practice in Greek drama: a god is introduced—often by a crane-like theatrical device (mēchanē)—to resolve an otherwise intractable plot. Although the phrase is commonly linked to Greek New Comedy and to Menander by later tradition, it is best understood as a retrospective critical term used by Roman and later commentators to describe a recognizable dramaturgical convention rather than a securely attested verbatim line from Menander. Menander’s comedies, like other Greek plays, could employ sudden external interventions or revelations to untie the plot, which later critics grouped under this rubric.

The expression has come to signify an artificial or contrived resolution: when narrative logic cannot reach a satisfying conclusion, an external power is introduced to force closure. In its theatrical origin, the “machine” underscores the visible mechanics of the intervention—an audience could literally see the god being lowered into the scene—highlighting the tension between dramatic illusion and stagecraft. As a critical concept, it often carries a negative judgment: it implies that the author has not earned the ending through character and causality. More neutrally, it can also name a deliberate stylistic choice, foregrounding fate, divine authority, or the limits of human agency.