ANCIENT GREEK DRAMA
'(<a href="http://www.j-archive.com/media/2006-03-06_DJ_25.jpg" target="_blank">Cheryl of the Clue Crew reports from the ruins of the Theater of Dionysus in Athens, Greece.</a>)  The ancient Greek special effect of a deity lowered from a crane was called this, meaning "god from the machine"'
deus ex machina