anapiesma : ah-nah-pee-EZ-mah

(Greek; pl. anapiesmata: stage trap door). The stage and orchestra of Greek and Roman theatres featured mechanical devices to enhance dramatic presentations. One such device was the anapiesma, literally meaning “that which presses upward.” This stage trap door allowed characters such as the Furies to rise up dramatically from below the ground level of the theatre, creating spectacular theatrical effects. Later half of the fourth century BCE, according to Pollus; [Ancient source: Pollus, Onomasticon 4.127,132]