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Deus ex machina

By N.S. Gill, About.com

Definition: Deus ex machina (god from the machine) is a term describing the sudden appearance of an unexpected way out of a difficult situation. Sophocles, in Philoctetes, and especially Euripides used the divine intervention technique of deus ex machina in their tragedies. In Greek drama, a god would appear on the stage from a mechane to resolve the plot.

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