A characteristic of Homer's style is the use of epithets, as in "rosy-fingered" Dawn or "swift-footed" Achilles. Epithets are used because of the constraints of the dactylic hexameter (i.e., it is convenient to have a stockpile of metrically fitting phrases to add to a name) and because of the oral transmission of the poems; they are mnemonic aids to the singer and the audience alike.[1]
Formulae in epic poetry from various Indo-European traditions may be traced to a common tradition. For example, the phrase for "everlasting glory" or "undying fame" can be found in the Homeric Greek as κλέος ἄφθιτον / kléos áphthiton and Vedic Sanskrit as श्रवो अक्षितम् / śrávo ákṣitam. These two phrases were, in terms of historical linguistics, equivalent in phonology, accentuation, and quantity (syllable length). In other words, they descend from a fragment of poetic diction (reconstructable as Proto-Indo-European *ḱléwos ń̥dʰgʷʰitom) which was handed down in parallel over many centuries, in continually diverging forms, by generations of singers whose ultimate ancestors shared an archetypal repertoire of poetic formulae and narrative themes.[2]
In contrast to the more general term 'epithet' (ἐπίθετον), which is used in poetic contexts, for the ancient Greek religion, the epiclesis (epíklēsis (ἐπίκλησις; literally 'calling upon')) was used as the surname that was associated with a deity during religious invocations.
Epithets alter the meaning of each noun to which they are attached. They specify the existential nature of a noun; that is to say, Achilles is not called "swift-footed" only when he runs; it is a marker of a quality that does not change. Special epithets, such as patronymics, are used exclusively for particular subjects and distinguish them from others, while generic epithets are used of many subjects and speak less to their individual characters. In these examples, the epithet can be contradictory to the past state of the subject: in Odyssey VI.74, for instance, Nausicaa takes her "radiant clothing", ἐσθῆτα φαεινήν, to be washed; since it is dirty, it is unlikely to be radiant.[3]
^Parry 1928: 5-10
^John Curtis Franklin, Structural Sympathies in Ancient Greek and South-Slavic Heroic Singing.
A characteristic of Homer's style is the use of epithets, as in "rosy-fingered" Dawn or "swift-footed" Achilles. Epithets are used because of the constraints...
above, as well as epithetsinHomer). When James Joyce uses the phrase "the snot-green sea" he is playing Homer's familiar epithet "the wine-dark sea"...
parents of Homer. The two best known ancient biographies of Homer are the Life of Homer by the Pseudo-Herodotus and the Contest of Homer and Hesiod. In the early...
An animal epithet is a name used to label a person or group, by association with some perceived quality of an animal. Epithets may be formulated as similes...
(Ἐνοσίγαιος), Enosichthon (Ἐνοσίχθων) (Homer) and Ennosidas (Ἐννοσίδας) (Pindar), mean "earth shaker". These epithets indicate his chthonic nature, and have...
obsequimur» (often quoted with the form iacentes). Delphic maxims EpithetsinHomer English words of Greek origin Greek language List of Latin phrases...
two epithets of his own, in the Aeneid: pater and pius. The epithets applied by Virgil are an example of an attitude different from that of Homer, for...
Delphi. Homer uses the for chthon the epithets "euryodeia" (broad-seated) and "polyvoteira" (all-nourishing) which can also be used for the earth. In some...
11. Homer, Iliad 1.13 (Lattimore 1951). Homer, Iliad 1.122 (Lattimore 1951). Moore, C. H. (1921). "Prophecy in the Ancient Epic". Harvard Studies in Classical...
Harvard University Press, pp. 11-12; Dalby, Andrew (2006), Rediscovering Homer, New York, London: Norton, ISBN 0-393-05788-7, pp. 186-187. Parry, Milman;...
relates that, according to Homer, Hephaestus is one of the children of Zeus and Hera (consciously contradicting Hesiod and Homer). Several later texts follow...
description as most other minor characters in the Iliad. She is described with the standard metrical epithets that the poet uses to describe a great beauty...
surnames, known as epithets. Some epithets are the surviving names of local gods who were consolidated into the myth of Zeus. In Hesiod's Theogony (c...
Library. Homer, The Odyssey of Homer, translated by Lattimore, Richard, Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 2006. ISBN 978-0061244186. Homer; The Odyssey...
mills, who was worshipped in the same fashion as Eunostus. Both Eunostus and Promylaia could actually have been mere epithets of Demeter.[citation needed]...
closest analogue to Homerin quality and quantity; Parry said one "has the overwhelming sense that, in some way, he is hearing Homer". Međedović boasted...
rest of the Iliad in its techniques of verse improvisation, that the order of the names is meaningful and that the geographical epithets evince concrete...
In Arcadia Demeter had the epithets Erinys (fury) and Melaina (black) which are associated with the myth of Demeter's rape by Poseidon. The epithets stress...
Homer. The Odyssey. Plain Label Books, 1990. Trans. Samuel Butler. pp. 40, 81–82, 192–195. "The conventional attribution of the Hymns to Homer, in spite...
Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca, iii. 6. § 7. Homer, Iliad, ii. 550. Eustathius, Commentary on Homer. Suda, s.v. ποινή. "Minerva", in Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography...
different counterparts (i. e. δ or λ in Greek, θ in Etruscan). In the Iliad and Odyssey Homer uses several epithets to describe Odysseus, starting with...
accounts of Homer include numerous passages in which archaic and classical Greek poets and prose authors mention or allude to Homer. In addition, they...
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