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A mechane or machine (Greek µ??a??, mekhane) was a crane
Crane (machine)

A crane is a lifting machine equipped with a winder , wire ropes or chains and Sheave that can be used both to lift and lower materials and to move them horizontally....
 used in Greek theatre, especially in the fifth and fourth 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, hence the Latin term deus ex machina
Deus ex machina

A deus ex machina is a plot device in which a surprising or unexpected event occurs in a story's plot, often to resolve flaws or tie up loose ends in the narrative....
 ("god out of the machine
Machine

A machine is any device that uses energy to perform some activity. In common usage, the meaning is that of a device having parts that perform or assist in performing any type of work....
"). Euripides
Euripides

Euripides was the last of the three great tragedy of classical Athens . Ancient scholars thought that Euripides had written ninety-five plays, although four of those were probably written by Critias....
' use of the mechane in Medea
Medea (play)

Medea is an Ancient Greece tragedy play written by Euripides, based upon the myth of Jason and Medea and first produced in 431 BC. The Plot largely centers on the protagonist in her struggle with the world, and the revenge she brings about against her husband Jason who has betrayed her for another woman, the princess Glauce....
 (431 BC) is a notable use of the machine for a non-divine character.






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A mechane or machine (Greek µ??a??, mekhane) was a crane
Crane (machine)

A crane is a lifting machine equipped with a winder , wire ropes or chains and Sheave that can be used both to lift and lower materials and to move them horizontally....
 used in Greek theatre, especially in the fifth and fourth 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, hence the Latin term deus ex machina
Deus ex machina

A deus ex machina is a plot device in which a surprising or unexpected event occurs in a story's plot, often to resolve flaws or tie up loose ends in the narrative....
 ("god out of the machine
Machine

A machine is any device that uses energy to perform some activity. In common usage, the meaning is that of a device having parts that perform or assist in performing any type of work....
"). Euripides
Euripides

Euripides was the last of the three great tragedy of classical Athens . Ancient scholars thought that Euripides had written ninety-five plays, although four of those were probably written by Critias....
' use of the mechane in Medea
Medea (play)

Medea is an Ancient Greece tragedy play written by Euripides, based upon the myth of Jason and Medea and first produced in 431 BC. The Plot largely centers on the protagonist in her struggle with the world, and the revenge she brings about against her husband Jason who has betrayed her for another woman, the princess Glauce....
 (431 BC) is a notable use of the machine for a non-divine character. It was also often used by Aeschylus
Aeschylus

Aeschylus was an Ancient Greece playwright. He is often recognized as the father or the founder of tragedy, and is the earliest of the three Greek tragedy whose Play survive extant, the others being Sophocles and Euripides....
.

In Christian
Christian

A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism#Christian view religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus and interpreted by Christians to have been prophesied in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament....
 liturgy
Christian liturgy

A liturgy is a set form of ceremony or pattern of worship. Christian liturgy is a pattern for worship used by a Christian congregation or Christian denomination on a regular basis....
 the mechane has also been identified with the cross
Christian cross

The Christian cross is the best-known religious symbol of Christianity. It is a representation of the instrument of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ....
. Ignatius
Ignatius of Antioch

Ignatius of Antioch was among the Apostolic Fathers, was the third Bishop and Patriarch of Antioch, and was possibly a student of John the Apostle....
 calls the cross the "theatre mechane" of Jesus
Jesus

Jesus of Nazareth , also known as Jesus Christ, is the central figure of Christianity and is revered by most Christian churches as the Son of God and the Incarnation ....
 Christ
Christ

Christ is the English language term for the Greek meaning "the anointing", which is a title given to the Reigning Messiah in the given age of the Zodiac....
.

Stage machines were also used in ancient Rome
Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome was a civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC....
, e.g. during the sometimes highly dramatic performances at funerals
Roman funerals and burial

In Ancient Rome, important people of the time had elaborate funerals. The funerals themselves were part of a tradition from the early Roman Republic, whereby the achievements of the dead man were celebrated alongside those of his ancestors....
. For Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar

'Gaius Julius Caesar' , July 13, 100 BC ? March 15, 44 BC,) was a Roman Republic military and political leader. He played a critical role in the transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
's funeral service Appian
Appian

Appianus , of Alexandria was a Ancient Rome historian who flourished during the reigns of Trajan, Hadrian and Antoninus Pius. He is commonly referred to by the anglicised form of his name, Appian....
 reports a mechane that was used to present a blood-stained wax effigy
Effigy

An effigy is a representation of a person, especially in the form of sculpture.The term is usually associated with full-length figures of a deceased person depicted in stone or wood on church monuments....
 of the deceased dictator
Dictator

A dictator is an authoritarian ruler who assumes sole and absolute power without hereditary ascension such as an absolute monarch. When other states call the head of state of a particular state a dictator, that state is called a dictatorship....
 to the funeral crowd. The mechane was used to turn the body in all directions. Geoffrey Sumi proposes that the use of the mechane "hinted at Caesar's divinity
Divinity

Divinity and divine are broadly applied but loosely defined terms, used variously within different faiths and belief systems ? and even by different individuals within a given faith ? to refer to some transcendent or transcendental power, or its attributes or manifestations in the world....
". This is highly unlikely because Appian doesn't describe the mechane as a genuine deus-ex-machina device. Furthermore Caesar's apotheosis
Apotheosis

Apotheosis refers to the exaltation of a subject to divinity level. The term has meanings in theology, where it refers to a belief, and in art, where it refers to a genre....
 wasn't legally conducted until 42 BC and Caesar had only been worshipped unofficially as divus during his lifetime. First and foremost Marcus Antonius
Mark Antony

Marcus Antonius , known in English as Marc Antony, was a Roman Republic politician and General. He was an important supporter and the best friend of Julius Caesar as a military commander and administrator, being Caesar's second cousin, once removed, by his mother Julia Antonia....
 attempted to arouse the masses as a means to strengthen Caesar's esteem as well as his own political power.