Nec deus intersit, nisi dignus vindice nodus inciderit
“Let no god intervene unless a knot arises worthy of such a deliverer.”
Horace, Ars Poetica 191–192
What does “Nec deus intersit, nisi dignus vindice nodus inciderit” mean?
Nec deus intersit, nisi dignus vindice nodus inciderit translates as “Let no god intervene unless a knot arises worthy of such a deliverer.”
A rule for storytelling: do not solve your plot with a convenient miracle unless the problem truly demands it. Writers still use it as a warning against lazy deus ex machina endings, and it applies to problem-solving in general.
“Nec deus intersit, nisi dignus vindice nodus inciderit” word by word
| Latin | English | Grammar |
|---|---|---|
| Nec | and let not, nor | a conjunction and adverb of negation; with the subjunctive that follows it works like “and let not” |
| deus | a god | nominative singular masculine of deus, “god”; the subject of the verb |
| intersit | let him intervene | third person singular present subjunctive of intersum, “I am between, I take part”; a jussive (commanding) subjunctive |
| nisi | unless | a conjunction introducing a condition |
| dignus | worthy | nominative singular masculine of dignus, “worthy”; agrees with nodus and takes an ablative of what it is worthy of |
| vindice | of a deliverer | ablative singular of vindex, “protector, avenger, deliverer”; the thing the knot is worthy of |
| nodus | a knot | nominative singular masculine of nodus, “knot”; here a tangled difficulty in the plot |
| inciderit | has arisen | third person singular future perfect indicative of incido, “I fall upon, I occur”; a knot that will have arisen |
How to pronounce “Nec deus intersit, nisi dignus vindice nodus inciderit”
Classical gives hard c and g and v as w (vindice sounds like WIN-dih-keh); Church Latin softens c before e and i to ch and says v as v. The stress is the same in both: dignus and nodus stress the first syllable, intersit the third, inciderit the second.
The story behind it
Word for word the line says: let no god intervene, unless a knot worthy of such a deliverer has arisen. The “knot” (nodus) is the tangle of a plot, and the “deliverer” (vindex) is the god who would untie it.
Horace gives this advice in his Ars Poetica, a verse letter on the craft of poetry and drama, written in the first century BC. It belongs to his rules for the stage and criticises playwrights who bring on a god to untangle every difficulty.
The line is the ancestor of the later phrase deus ex machina, the god lowered onto the stage by machinery to settle the plot. Writers and script editors still quote Horace’s rule as a warning against lazy, convenient endings.
How to use “Nec deus intersit, nisi dignus vindice nodus inciderit”
A fitting pin-up for a screenwriting room, a creative-writing class on plot endings, or an essay about deus ex machina. It also works as a motto for problem-solving: do not reach for a miracle when ordinary effort will do.
- Latin
- Nec deus intersit, nisi dignus vindice nodus inciderit
- English
- Let no god intervene unless a knot arises worthy of such a deliverer.
- Source
- Horace, Ars Poetica 191–192
- Era
- Classical
- Theme
- Communication
Common mistakes
- It is not a ban on gods or miracles in stories. Horace allows them when the problem is truly worthy of one.
- The phrase deus ex machina does not appear here. It is a later label for the device Horace is criticising.
- Dignus takes the ablative: dignus vindice means “worthy of a deliverer”, not “worthy deliverer”.
- Intersit is a subjunctive command, so “let no god intervene” is right and “no god intervenes” is not.
Questions about “Nec deus intersit, nisi dignus vindice nodus inciderit”
What does “Nec deus intersit, nisi dignus vindice nodus inciderit” mean?
Let no god intervene unless a knot arises worthy of such a deliverer. It is advice to plot-writers: bring in a miracle only for a problem that truly needs one.
Who said “Nec deus intersit”?
The Roman poet Horace, in his Ars Poetica, lines 191 to 192, in the section on how to write drama.
Is this where “deus ex machina” comes from?
The idea is the same, since Horace warns against gods rescuing the plot. The phrase deus ex machina itself is a later Latin label for the device, not Horace’s words.
How do you pronounce “Nec deus intersit”?
In Classical Latin: nek DEH-oos in-ter-SIT-ih. In Church Latin the stress is the same, and the ending sounds slightly different (in-ter-SIT).
More to explore
Translation and grammar checked by Latin Quoter · last reviewed November 2026
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