deus ex machina

See also: Deus ex machina and Deus ex Machina

English

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from Latin deus ex māchinā (literally “god from a machine, i.e., a device, a scaffolding, an artifice”), from Ancient Greek.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdeɪ.əs ɛks ˈmækɪnə/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

Examples (contrived plot resolution)
The protagonist waking up, realizing it was all a dream Another hero coming in out of an unexpected place to save someone at the last second.

deus ex machina (plural dei ex machina or dei ex machinis or deus ex machinas)

1. (authorship) Any resolution to a story that does not pay due regard to the story's internal logic and that is so unlikely that it challenges suspension of disbelief, and presumably allows the author, director, or developer to end the story in the way that they desired.
   • 1975 December 13, Regina Kahney, “Sister Gin (review)”, in Gay Community News, volume 3, number 24, page 13:

     The women who merge in the final pages leave me unsettled and depressed. Their future is grim. There is no deus ex machina to save them.

   • 2007 August 12, Christopher Hitchens, “Harry Potter: The Boy Who Lived”, in New York Times‎^[1]:

     The repeated tactic of deus ex machina (without a deus) has a deplorable effect on both the plot and the dialogue.

   • 2011 January 20, Dave Thier, “‘Parks and Recreation’: Comedy Imitates Life (Sort Of)”, in The Atlantic‎^[2]:

     Despite the government shutdown, at the end of the last season Knope is able to put on a children's concert in the abandoned lot she's been trying to turn into a park due to a quick deus ex machina.

   • 2017 June 26, David Sims, “How Will ‘Silicon Valley’ Work Without T.J. Miller?”, in The Atlantic‎^[3]:

     Compared to that, the season-four finale “Server Error” felt comparatively tame, focusing mostly on Richard’s maniacal efforts to create a new kind of internet, which were helped along by a confusing deus ex machina.

2. (by extension) A contrived solution to a problem, relying on an agent external to the situation.
   • 2016 January 26, David Robert Grimes, “On the Viability of Conspiratorial Beliefs”, in PLOS One‎^[4], volume 11, number 1, page 3:

     The belief that a cure for cancer is being withheld by vested interests is a long-standing one. It is often used as a universal deus ex machina for those pushing an alternative alleged cure […]

   • 2017 August 14, David A. Graham, “The Search for a Magical Way to Stop Trump”, in The Atlantic‎^[5]:

     Handler’s bad advice for generals […] is mostly notable as the most extreme expression of peculiar pleas by Trump opponents who seek some deus ex machina that will stop the president: generals simply disobeying the president, other civil servants refusing to follow through on orders, or even the invocation of the 25th Amendment to remove him from office.

3. (historical, literary) A deity in Greek and Roman drama who was brought in by stage machinery to intervene in a difficult situation (i.e., to resolve a crisis, or untangle issues surrounding it, a character logically expected to do so).
   • 1959, Mary Stewart, chapter XVII, in Nine Coaches Waiting, M. S. Mill Company, page 268:

     I was going to wait for Monsieur Hyppolyte and, like a craven, hand the whole thing over to him. Let the deus ex machina fly in out of the clouds...

4. (historical) A machine used to bring an actor playing a god onto the stage, either up through a trapdoor or (e.g. by crane) from above.

Usage notes

• Rarely, the plurals dii ex machina, di ex machina, dii ex machinis and di ex machinis are found.
• The plurals ending in ex machina literally translate to “gods from a machine”, whereas the plurals ending in ex machinis literally translate to “gods from machines”; in their usage, these plurals generally retain this distinction in sense, however figuratively.

Coordinate terms

• dea ex machina (feminine)

Translations

contrived plot resolution

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 機械降神／机械降神 (jīxiè jiàng shén)

• Finnish: keinotekoinen juonenkäänne, deus ex machina
• French: deus ex machina (fr) m
• German: Deus ex Machina (de) m
• Greek:

  Ancient: ἀπὸ μηχανῆς θεός (apò mēkhanês theós)

  Modern: από μηχανής θεός (el) (apó michanís theós)

• Italian: deus ex machina m
• Japanese: どんでん返し (ja) (don den gaeshi), デウスエクスマキナ (deusu ekusu makina)
• Korean: 데우스 엑스 마키나 (de'useu ekseu makina)
• Marathi: डेउस एक्स मॅकिना (ḍeus eksa mĕkinā)
• Norwegian: reddende engel
• Polish: deus ex machina (pl) m
• Portuguese: deus ex machina (pt) m
• Russian: де́ус экс ма́хина m (dɛ́us eks máxina), «бог из маши́ны» m (“box iz mašíny”), роя́ль в куста́х (ru) (rojálʹ v kustáx) (lit: a grand piano in the bush)
• Spanish: deus ex machina (es) m (deus eks mákhina)
• Swedish: räddande ängel, deus ex machina (sv) c
• Thai: เทวดามาโปรด

contrived solution to a problem

• Arabic: الحَلّ مِنَ السَّمَاء (al-ḥall mina s-samāʔ)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: ^{(please verify)} 解圍的人或事件／解围的人或事件 (jiěwéi de rén huò shìjiàn)

• Finnish: ihmeratkaisu
• Italian: deus ex machina m
• Japanese: 急場しのぎ (kyūba shinogi)
• Marathi: डेउस एक्स मॅकिना (ḍeus eksa mĕkinā)
• Polish: deus ex machina (pl) m
• Russian: счастли́вая развя́зка f (sčastlívaja razvjázka)
• Spanish: deus ex machina m (deus eks mákhina)

German

Noun

deus ex machina m (strong, genitive deus ex machina, plural (uncommon) dei ex machina)

1. Alternative form of Deus ex Machina

Declension

Declension of deus ex machina [masculine, strong]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	der	deus ex machina	die	dei ex machina
genitive	eines	des	deus ex machina	der	dei ex machina
dative	einem	dem	deus ex machina	den	dei ex machina
accusative	einen	den	deus ex machina	die	dei ex machina

Latin

Etymology

Calque of Ancient Greek ἀπὸ μηχανῆς θεός (apò mēkhanês theós, literally “god from the machine”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈde.us eks ˈmaː.kʰi.naː/, [ˈd̪eʊs̠ ɛks̠ ˈmäːkʰɪnäː]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈde.us eks ˈma.ki.na/, [ˈd̪ɛːus ɛks ˈmäːkinä]

Noun

deus ex māchinā m (irregular, genitive deī ex māchinā); second declension

1. deus ex machina (deity in Greek and Roman drama who was brought in by stage machinery to intervene in an inextricable situation)

Polish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from Latin deus ex māchinā, itself a calque of Ancient Greek ἀπὸ μηχανῆς θεός (apò mēkhanês theós).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdɛ.us ˈɛks maˈxi.na/
• Syllabification: de‧us ex ma‧chi‧na

Adverb

deus ex machina (not comparable)

1. (literary) deus ex machina (suddenly, unexpectedly, and without prior indications)

Noun

deus ex machina m pers (indeclinable)

1. (Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, drama, historical, literary) deus ex machina (plot resolution in ancient tragedy involving the sudden and unexpected appearance of a deity)
2. (Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, drama, historical, literary) deus ex machina (deity in Greek and Roman drama who was brought in by stage machinery to intervene in a difficult situation)
3. (literary) deus ex machina (unexpected saviour)
4. (literary, narratology) deus ex machina (contrived plot resolution)

Further reading

• deus ex machina in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• deus ex machina in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Portuguese

Noun

deus ex machina m (plural deuses ex machina or dei ex machina)

1. (narratology) deus ex machina (contrived plot resolution)

Related terms

• deus