Deus ex machina

Playwrights grew ever more ambitious with what they could achieve on-stage. In 431 BCE, a wooden crane (the ‘mechane’) was added so that the titular character of Euripides’ Medea could fly away in a magic chariot. He also later used the same device to have Bellerophon make a grand entrance, flying in on winged horse Pegasus. Because of the considerable weight involved, the wooden mechane was likely attached to the skene.