Finally about 430 B.C. the machine (μηχανή) came into use. Possibly this is employed in Euripides’ _Medea_ (431 B.C.) in order to carry away that heroine and the bodies of her children in the chariot of the sun-god, but the situation is doubtful. It is almost certainly a mistake, however, to attribute the machine, as some do, to the time of Aeschylus. Whether Euripides was its inventor or not, he was extraordinarily fond of using it. Indeed it has been remarked that “in almost every play of Euripides something flies through the air.” At any rate the earliest sure instance of the machine occurs in Euripides’ lost _Bellerophon_, which was brought out some time before 425 B.C. By its means the hero in this play was enabled to mount from earth to heaven, i.e., from the orchestra to the top of the proscenium, upon the winged steed, Pegasus. This scene is parodied in Aristophanes’ _Peace_ (421 B.C.), in which Trygaeus makes a similar flight on the back of a beetle. Somewhat later the same device enabled Perseus in Euripides’ lost _Andromeda_ to fly to the rocks upon which that heroine had been bound. In Aristophanes’ _Clouds_ (423 B.C.) it was employed to suspend Socrates in a basket, whence he could look down upon the troubles of mortals and survey the heavenly bodies. Especially important is the situation in Euripides’ _Orestes_ (408 B.C.). Orestes and Pylades have fled to the palace roof, dragging Hermione with them. Menelaus is outside the bolted door below. Suddenly Apollo appears (vs. 1625) with Helen at his side. The divinity begins to speak as follows: Menelaus, peace to thine infuriate mood: I, Phoebus, Leto’s son, here call on thee. Peace thou, Orestes, too, whose sword doth guard Yon maid, that thou mayst hear the words I bear. Helen, whose death thou hast essayed, to sting The heart of Menelaus, yet hast missed, Is here,—whom _wrapped in folds of air ye see_ (ἐv αἰθέρος πτυχαῖς),— From death delivered, and not slain of thee, etc. [Way’s translation] The italicized words show that Apollo and Helen stand above all the other actors in the drama, who are themselves standing on two different levels; and it is evident that the machine was utilized for this purpose.