ses of literary techniques make the novel worthy of its title of a great American classic. One of these examples is her strategic use of the imagery of water as representing despair. "Over and over her the sea of humiliation broke – wave crashing on a wave so close that the moral shame was one with the physical dread... His touch was a shock to her drowning consciousness" (Wharton 156.) Lily is despairing once again, and once again that despair is described as drowning in a flood of violent waters. Except, this time, it has nothing to do with money. Lily is feeling a flood of shame and immorality, not of "dinginess" ("House," Shmoop.) Other characters use the imagery of water throughout the novel as well. When Gerty Farish realizes that Selden is in love with Lily, not her, she states, "It was all as meaningless as the boom of waves in a drowning head, and she felt, as the drowning may feel, that to sink would be nothing beside the pain of struggling to keep up" (Wharton 167.) There are countless examples of water imagery throughout the novel. Wharton also peppers her novel with references to Greek mythology, which give it a timeless mystical air. "That BEYOND! on her letter was like a cry for rescue. He knew that Perseus's task is not done when he has loosed Andromeda's chains, for her limbs are numb with bondage, and she cannot rise and walk, but clings to him with dragging arms as he beats back to land with his burden"(Wharton 169.) In this quote Selden likens Lily to Andromeda, a woman being sacrificed for her beauty, and himself to Perseus, the rescuer man ("House," Shoomp.)
             Another greatly used reference to Greek mythology was that of The Furies. The furies were mythical creatures in ancient Greece who embodied vengeance. The go-to ancient text here is a tragic play by the Greek playwright Aeschylus, called Eumenides. In it, a man named Orestes is relentlessly pursued by the furies as punishment. "Eumenides" means "friendly ...