periaktos and ekkylkema and praxinosocpe and mechane

Since we only got through one word last time, I thought it best not to be too ambitious here, but only to suggest one word. Yet, if I went on beyond periaktos, I would have to explore perianal, with its synonyms circumanal and periproctous. These might be fun to examine, but I think I will confine myself to periaktos. You probably are grateful for that.

The term periaktos, meaning "turning on a center," derives from ancient Greek theater and means "one of the two pieces of machinery placed at the two sides of the stage for the convenient shifting of the scenes." As the Century goes on to explain, it consisted of three painted scenes, on the three sides of the periaktos. The scene was changed by turning one periaktos or both, so as to exhibit a new face to the audience. The concept is first mentioned in Vitruvius' book De architectura (ca. 14 BCE), though the passage in which the word appears is not, to be sure, crystal clear. It does suggest, however the turning of triangular machines for the sake of varying the backgrounds of various scenes. I found the following quotation useful:

"It consists of a revolving solid isosceles triangular prism made of wood. On each of its three faces, a different scene is painted, so that, by revolving quickly the periaktos, another face can appear to the audience. A series of periaktoi positioned one after the other along the stage's depth can produce the illusion of a longer scene, composed by its faces as seen in perspective. These periaktoi must therefore be rotated simultaneously to a new position, thus achieving interesting and even awesome illusions. This is made by coupling them by using sprocket gears at their bases and a flat chain or conveyor belt mechanical transmission system."

As I was researching the word, I discovered to my delight that there is a company called "Periaktos Productions," which, of all things, presents continuing legal education courses for lawyers. They present legal drama, such as a purported impeachment hearing for the former Justice William O. Douglas, or a production on Clarence Darrow entitled Clarence Darrow: Crimes, Causes and the Courtroom. They call themselves "Periaktos Productions" in order to establish a "spiritual connection to 2500 years of theatrical production."

Wandering Through the Greek Theater

But this word invites our consideration of a few other terms for theatrical devices from ancient Greek theater or more modern productions. Let me introduce the following: mechane, ekkyklema, and praxinoscope. The last, actually, is from the 19th century, but I don't want to lose the word while I have it. A mechane was a crane used in fifth century drama for hoisting characters in the air, primarily to represent flight. The most famous example of this device is in Aristophanes' Clouds, where he suspends Socrates in the air by the mechane to show his inhabiting the world of "Cloudcookooland" between heaven and earth. The Latin term "deus ex machina" is the equivalent. This web site says, however, that gods were only introduced by this device in the fourth century BCE at the earliest; earlier plays had gods address mortals from trapdoors in the ceiling of the skene.

An ekkyklema, literally a "thing rolled out," was a platform rolled out on wheels through one of the doors of the skene in which a scene was displayed representing an action that took place indoors. But, as the Wikipedia article on the subject in German says, the actual shape of the ekkyklema (first attested in Aristophanes) is "umstritten" ("contested"). When I lived in Germany during part of my Ph. D. studies, I attended an "Oberseminar" of one of the senior professors at the university, who gathered about 24 of us into his spacious study in his home overlooking the Neckar River for Most (A Swabian drink), pretzels, and good conversation from 8 p.m. until midnight every other Friday night. He would often break into the conversation when someone would make a point in order to say that the particular point made was "umstritten." So, it is good to see that the particular shape of the ekkyklema is still debated.

Conclusion

Let me conclude with a reference to a fascinating device I discovered when doing this research, which stems only from the 19th century but which I would like to mention here. A praxinosocope, invented in 1877 by Charles Reynaud, was the first device to overcome the picture distortion produced by the older zoetropes, by presenting whirling images refleted off inner mirrors so that the viewer could get the impression of a continuous action.

A picture of a praxinoscope is here, but I may want to return to it at a later moment. You really never know (A great phrase in Italian is "Non si sa mai"--"you never really know").

1865