by SkymanDr » Sun Apr 11, 2004 7:00 pm
<blockquote><i>Originally posted by Neo48</i><p>Dues ex Machina "Translate" God is Machine<p>Is that right?<br></blockquote><p>Almost. It means "God from the machine". If you are interested this is where it comes from:<br>The expression means the same as "help from above" in a very litterary sense. in this case machina refers to a crane (the apparatous used to lift things, not the bird). In antique greek plays it was customary for the characters to reach a dead end, with no solution in sight. Then all of a sudden a God decends from the roof via a crane, "ex machina".