Latin phrase help please!

[LiviaOlivia]

Homo ex machina--Man out of/from machine?

Deus ex machina--God out of/from machine?
" A contrived or artificial solution. (literally, 'a god from a machine')"?


Please help me out with a contextual explanation. My googling experience has been unsatisfying. Thanks.

[Igel]

1. Don't know about "homo ex machina".

But I think the deus ex machina is actually a theater term.

You get stuck in a really horrible plot point, and suddenly the plot complication needed to fix your mess drops from the rafters ... some god or another descending from the heavens in some sort of a contraption. A "machina".

[Sympleesmshn]

5. Your right...

[rogerashton]

2. In some classical plays,

all the problems were solved by a God. You could tell the actor was portraying a God partly because the actor came in from above -- lowered by a mechanical contrivance of some kind. Thus, Deus ex machina.

[SOteric]

3. Yes, ...long ago

in Greek and Roman theatrical productions there was a tradition of having a God decend in the last scene to fix all the woes and set the world right again. The 'Gods' were rigged to descend via mechanical workings. It generated the term "God from the Machine" to mean any last minute delivery not expected or otherwise forshadowed in a work.

[Sympleesmshn]

4. from what I understand from my Latin teacher

the second one is like in a movie when the problem solves its self. I have never heard of the first as a phrase... I sent her an email so I will have more info later for you if you don't get anything else...

[LiviaOlivia]

6. Thank you.

I'll check back.

[Aristus]

7. In context, the God from the Machine was not just a standard

plot-device; it was a cop-out. The playwright got himself into a fix, couldn't think of a plausible conclusion, and just let the gods take care of the situation.

It's sloppy writing, and lazy thinking.