An ''ekkyklêma'' or ''eccyclema'' (; ; "roll-out machine") was a wheeled platform rolled out through a '' skênê'' in

ancient Greek theatre A theatrical culture flourished in ancient Greece from 700 BC. At its centre was the city-state of Athens, which became a significant cultural, political, and religious place during this period, and the theatre was institutionalised there as p ...

. It was used to bring interior scenes out into the sight of the audience. Some ancient sources suggest that it may have been revolved or turned. It is primarily used in tragedies for revealing dead bodies, such as Hippolytus' dying body in the final scene of

Euripides Euripides () was a Greek tragedy, tragedian of classical Athens. Along with Aeschylus and Sophocles, he is one of the three ancient Greek tragedians for whom any plays have survived in full. Some ancient scholars attributed ninety-five plays to ...

' play of the same name, or the corpse of Eurydice draped over the household altar in

Sophocles Sophocles ( 497/496 – winter 406/405 BC)Sommerstein (2002), p. 41. was an ancient Greek tragedian known as one of three from whom at least two plays have survived in full. His first plays were written later than, or contemporary with, those ...

' '' Antigone''. Other uses include the revelation in Sophocles' '' Ajax'' of Ajax surrounded by the sheep he killed whilst under the delusion that they were Greeks.Rehm (1992, 69). The ''ekkyklêma'' is also used in comedy to

parody A parody is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satire, satirical or irony, ironic imitation. Often its subject is an Originality, original work or some aspect of it (theme/content, author, style, e ...

the tragic effect. An example of this is in

Aristophanes Aristophanes (; ; ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek Ancient Greek comedy, comic playwright from Classical Athens, Athens. He wrote in total forty plays, of which eleven survive virtually complete today. The majority of his surviving play ...

' '' Thesmophoriazusae'' when Agathon, portrayed as an effeminate, is wheeled onstage on an ''ekkyklêma'' to enhance the comic absurdity of the scene.

References

Sources

* Brockett, Oscar G. and Franklin J. Hildy. 2003. ''History of the Theatre''. Ninth edition, International edition. Boston: Allyn and Bacon. . * Csapo, Eric, and William J. Slater. 1994. ''The Context of Ancient Drama.'' Ann Arbor: U of Michigan P. . * Davidson, John. 2005. "Theatrical Production." In Gregory (2005, 194–211). * Goldhill, Simon. 2007. ''How to Stage Greek Tragedy Today.'' Chicago and London: U of Chicago P. . * Gregory, Justina, ed. 2005. ''A Companion to Greek Tragedy.'' Blackwell Companions to the Ancient World ser. Malden, MA and Oxford: Blackwell. . * Ley, Graham. 2007. ''The Theatricality of Greek Tragedy: Playing Space and Chorus.'' Chicago and London: U of Chicago P. . * Rehm, Rush. 1992. ''Greek Tragic Theatre.'' Theatre Production Studies ser. London and New York: Routledge. . Ancient Greek theatre {{theatre-hist-stub