| 词源 |
deus ex machina. Some unlikely event that extricates one from a difficult situation, usually in a play or other work of fic- tion, is called a deus ex machina, which literally means “a god [let down upon the stage] from a machine.” In ancient Greek drama a god was often lowered onto the stage by a pulley sys- tem to help the hero out of trouble, this practice giving rise to the expression. Euripides used the device widely, while So- phocles and Aeschylus avoided it—as almost all writers avoid it today. Much later Bertolt Brecht parodied the practice at the end of The Threepenny Opera when Mack the Knife is saved from hanging by Queen Victoria’s proclamation. |