Explaining Epithets

Find three heroic epithets. Explain how you think these epithets were useful to the singer of poems in the Greek oral tradition. (Explain: give a detailed account including reasons or causes.)

An epithet is a descriptor used over and over again to describe a person or place. It is usually a two-worded adjective, with some exceptions. Examples from The Odyssey include: "Athena, the owl-eyed goddess," with owl-eyed being the epithet (3: 87); "Menelaus, the red-haired king," with the epithet as red-haired (52: 284); and "Poseidon, the Lord of Earthquake," in which the epithet is Lord of Earthquake (196: 151).

I think epithets were useful to the singer, or bard, of poems in the Greek oral tradition for many reasons. One reason is that since these bards had to memorize everything, it was a way for them to have easy descriptors of their characters. While it also helped them to remember who the character was, it probably assisted the audience too, because these poems took several days to tell and it's very easy to forget who is who. 

Another example of why they were useful is the use of the dactylic hexameter. The dactylic hexameter is the Greek formal rhythm that is different from our English iambic pentameter. If the poet needed to have more syllables in his line, then he could easily put in the epithet, or the longer version of the epithet.

As you can see, the epithets were extremely useful in many ways to the singer of poems. One of the many things I liked about Lombardo's translation, that is different from the other translation I read (Fagles), is that he didn't use the same epithet the whole time. While it had the same context, he changed it up. For example: "Athena's seagrey eyes glinted," with seagray as the epithet (6: 192); or "Athena, her eyes grey as saltwater," with eyes grey as saltwater being the epithet (10: 331); and "Grey-eyed One," with the epithet as Grey-eyed (10: 336).