1.
MAHARAJA KRISHNKUMARSINHJI BHAVNAGAR
UNIVERSITY
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH
SUB: Literary Theory and Criticism
TOPIC: Literary term
DEUS EX MACHINA
Enrollment No. 2069108420200018
Presented by: Ruchi Joshi
ruchivjoshi101@gmail.com
Batch year: MA SEM-1
2019-2021

2.
DEUS EX MACHINA
Unexpected power
or event saving a
seemingly hopeless
situation, especially
as a contrived plot
devices in a play or
novel.

3.
• Translation of a Greek
phrase and means
literary “a God from
a machine.”
• “Machine” in this
case, refer to crane
that held God over
stage.
What does the term mean?

4.
Who invented
DEUS EX MACHINA?
More than half of Euripides’s extant tragedies
employ a Deus ex Machina in their resolution,
and some critics claim that Euripides invented,
not Aeschylus.
Aeschylus used the device in his Eumenides,
but it became an established stage machine
with Euripides.

5.
Origin of the Expression
Term was coined from
the conventions of
ancient Greek theatre,
where actors who were
playing Gods were
brought onto stage
using a machine.
It’s a weasel way
to tell a story.
DEUS EX
MACHINA

6.
Examples
HELLO
(1) (2)
(3)