Epithets in Homer

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Epithets in Homer. A characteristic of Homer's style is the use of recurring epithets, such as the rosy-fingered dawn or swift-footed Achilles. These epithets were metric stop-gaps as well as mnemonic devices for the aoidos (singer), both signs of the deep oral tradition that preceded the written codification of the Iliad and the Odyssey.

Moreover, epithets in epic poetry from various Indo European traditions may be traced to a common tradition going much deeper into pre-history; for example, the phrase approximating "everlasting glory" or "undying fame" can be found in the Homeric Greek kleos aphthiton and the Sanskrit śrávo ákşitam; they "were, in terms of historical linguistics, equivalent in phonology, accentuation, and quantity (syllable length). In other words, they are descendants from a fragment of poetic diction (reconstructable as Proto-Indo-European *klewos ņdhgwhitom) 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." (John Curtis Franklin, Structural Sympathies in Ancient Greek and South-Slavic Heroic Singing.)

A name plus an epithet constitute a formula which exactly fits the metric structure of the verse. The use of formulas is characteristic of ancient epic poetry.

[edit] List of epithets in Homer

  • Achilles
    • son of Peleus
    • swift-footed (podas ôkus)
    • god-like (dios)
  • Aias
    • son of Telamon
    • bulwark of the Achaeans (herkos Achaiôn)
  • Agamemnon
    • son of Atreus
    • leader of men (anax andrôn)
  • Aphrodite
    • laughter-loving (philommeidês)
    • golden (chrusê)
  • Apollo
    • far-shooting, who strikes from afar (hekêbolos or hekatêbolos)
    • shootafar
    • Phoebus
  • Ares
    • man-slaying (androphonos)
    • brazen (chalkeos)
  • Athena
    • bright-eyed, grey-eyed, owl-eyed (glaukôpis)
  • Diomedes
    • master of the war-cry
  • Eos (Dawn)
    • rosy-fingered (rhododaktulos)
    • early-rising (êrigeneia)
    • golden-throned (chrusothronos)
    • fair-throned (euthronos)
  • Hector
    • son of Priam
    • helmet-flashing (koruthaiolos)
    • glorious (phaidimos)
    • breaker of horses
    • man-killing
    • tamer of horses
  • Helen
    • Argive (from Argos)
    • lovely-haired (eukomos)
    • born from Zeus (Dios ekgegauia)
  • Hephaistos
    • with the two strong arms (amphiguêeis)
  • Hera
    • ox-eyed (boôpis)
    • white-armed (leukôlenê)
    • discord manymoan
  • Menelaus
    • son of Atreus
    • fair-haired, blond (xanthos)
    • good at the war-cry (boên agathos)
  • Odysseus
    • raider of cities
    • son of Laertes
    • resourceful (polumêtis)
    • much-enduring (polutlas)
    • sacker of towns (ptoliporthios)
  • Paris (Alexandros)
    • son of Priam
    • lord of the fair-haired Helen (Helenês posis eukomoio)
  • Patroklos
    • son of Menoitios
    • with the great heart (megathumos)
  • Poseidon
    • earth-shaker (enosichtôn)
  • Sea (pontos)
    • wine-colored (oinops)
  • Thetis
    • silver-footed (arguropeza)
    • lovely-haired (eukomos)
  • Zeus
    • cloud-gatherer (nephelêgereta)
    • cronion thundercloud
  • Hermes
    • god of the golden wand
    • giant killer
  • Circe
    • Nymph with loveley braids
  • Tiresias
    • Seer of Thebes
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