The Southern Tradgedy.

Absalom, Absalom! is the most Greek novel of the ones that we’ve read thus far. Faulkner makes numerous references to Greek culture and myth throughout the novel. The one that stuck out the most to me was Miasma. Miasma in Greek culture was like sin. The Greek’s were worried about being impure. Certain actions carried more Miasma than others. Disservices to the gods or a murder were the biggest ways to get miasma. So in tying these characters to a word like Miasma, Faulkner is showing just how doomed they are. The daughters name (Clytie) is said that she should have been Cassandra. Cassandra was the woman blessed with the power of prophecy but cursed with fact that no one would believe her. Her curse and blessing came from her inability to keep a promise to Apollo. Ellen is categorized as a Niobi without tears. Niobi was a woman who bragged that her twins were better than Apollo and Artemis because she had more of them. This is mirrored in the fact that Henry and Judith have a very close relationship. Niobi however was doomed to lose her children because of her bragging. Again he’s choosing another bit of Greek Mythology to point towards the ultimate doom of the Sutpen line. He’s using all of these established stories in order to flesh out his new story. His story is a new history that is soon to be rich with it’s own mythology which Faulkner is attempting to create in Yoknapatawpha.