Epithet Information (Linguistics, Epitheton, Greek) @ BugDead.com

An epithet (from Greek Greek , an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, is the language of the Greeks. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. In its ancient form, it is the language of classical ancient Greek literature and the New Testament of ἐπίθετον - epitheton, neut. of ἐπίθετος - epithetos, "attributed, added"^[1]) is a descriptive term (word or phrase) accompanying, or occurring in place of, a name, and having entered common usage. It has various shades of meaning when applied to seemingly real or fictitious people, divinities, objects, and binomial nomenclature The formal system of naming species is called binomial nomenclature , binominal nomenclature (since 1953, the technically correct form in zoology), or binary nomenclature. It is also a descriptive title.

1 Linguistics
2 Literature
3 Religion
4 Politics and military
5 Alternative contemporary usage
6 References
7 See also

Linguistics

In linguistics Linguistics is the scientific study of natural language. Linguistics encompasses a number of sub-fields. An important topical division is between the study of language structure and the study of meaning (semantics and pragmatics). Grammar encompasses morphology (the formation and composition of words), syntax (the rules that determine how words, an epithet can only be a metaphor A metaphor is an analogy between two objects or ideas; the analogy is conveyed by the use of a metaphorical word in place of some other word. For example: "Her eyes were glistening jewels", essentially a reduced or condensed appositive Apposition is a grammatical construction in which two elements, normally noun phrases, are placed side by side, with one element serving to define or modify the other. When this device is used, the two elements are said to be in apposition. For example in the phrase "my friend Alice" the name "Alice" is in apposition to ". Epithets are sometimes attached to a person's name or appear in place of their name, as what might be described as a glorified nickname. An epithet is linked to its noun by long-established usage and some are not otherwise employed. Not every adjective is an epithet, even worn clichés A cliché or cliche (pronounced /kliːʃeɪ/ in English, but /kli.ʃe/ (klee-shé) in French), is a saying, expression, idea, or element of an artistic work which has been overused to the point of losing its original meaning or effect, "played out", rendering it a stereotype, especially when at some earlier time it was considered: an epithet is especially recognizable when its function is largely decorative, as when "cloud-gathering Zeus" is otherwise employed than in conjuring up a storm. "The epithets are decorative insofar as they are neither essential to the immediate context nor modelled especially for it. Among other things, they are extremely helpful to fill out a half-verse", Walter Burkert Walter Burkert , a scholar of Greek mythology and cult, is an emeritus professor of classics at the University of Zurich, Switzerland, and also has taught in the United Kingdom and the United States. He has influenced generations of students of religion since the 1960s, combining in the modern way the findings of archaeology and epigraphy with the has noted.^[2]

Some epithets are known by the Latin term epitheton necessarium because they are required to distinguish the bearers, e.g. as an alternative to ordinals after a prince's name — such as Richard the Lionheart Richard I was King of England from 6 July 1189 until his death in 1199. He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Lord of Ireland, Lord of Cyprus, Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Count of Nantes, and Overlord of Brittany at various times during the same period. He was known as Cœur de Lion, or Richard the Lionheart,, or Charles the Fat Charles the Fat was the King of Alemannia from 876, King of Italy from 879, Holy Roman Emperor (as Charles III) from 881, King of East Francia from 882, and King of West Francia from 884. In 887, he was deposed in East Francia, Lotharingia, and possibly Italy, where the records are not clear. In January 888, just a few weeks after his deposition, alongside Charles the Bald Charles the Bald , Holy Roman Emperor (875–877, as Charles II) and King of West Francia (840–877, as Charles II, with the borders of his land defined by the Treaty of Verdun, 843), was the youngest son of the Emperor Louis the Pious by his second wife Judith. Still the same epithet can be used repeatedly, in different spheres of life and/or joined to different names, say Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon , popularly known as Alexander the Great (Greek: Μέγας Ἀλέξανδρος, Mégas Aléxandros), was a Greeki[›] king (basileus) of Macedon. He is the most celebrated member of the Argead Dynasty and created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Born in Pella in 356 BC, Alexander received a classical as well as Catherine the Great Catherine II , also known as Catherine the Great, born 2 May [O.S. 21 April] 1729 Sophie Friederike Auguste von Anhalt-Zerbst-Dornburg in Stettin, Pomerania, reigned as Empress of Russia from 9 July [O.S. 28 June] 1762 until her death (17 November [O.S. 6 November] 1796). Under her direct auspices the Russian Empire expanded, improved its.

Other epithets can easily be omitted without serious risk of confusion, and are therefore known (again in Latin) as epitheton ornans; thus the classical Roman author Virgil systematically called his main hero pius Aeneas, the epithet being pius, which means religiously observant, humble and wholesome, as well as calling the armsbearer of Aeneas fidus Achates, the epithet being fidus, which means faithful or loyal.

There are also specific types of epithets, such as the kenning A kenning is a type of literary trope, specifically circumlocution, in the form of a compound (usually two words, often hyphenated) that employs figurative language in place of a more concrete single-word noun. Kennings are strongly associated with Old Norse and later Icelandic and Anglo-Saxon poetry. For example, Old Norse poets might replace which appears in works such as Beowulf Beowulf is the conventional title of an Old English heroic epic poem consisting of 3182 alliterative long lines, set in Scandinavia, commonly cited as one of the most important works of Anglo-Saxon literature. It survives in a single manuscript known as the Nowell Codex. Its composition by an anonymous Anglo-Saxon poet is dated between the 8th and. An example of a kenning would be the term whale-road, meaning "sea".

Literature

Epithets are characteristic of the style of ancient epic poetry An epic (from the Ancient Greek adjective ἐπικός , from ἔπος (epos) "word, story, poem") is a lengthy narrative poem, ordinarily concerning a serious subject containing details of heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation. Oral poetry may qualify as an epic, and Albert Lord and Milman Parry have argued that, notably in that of Homer Homer is a legendary ancient Greek epic poet, traditionally said to be the author of the epic poems the Iliad and the Odyssey. The ancient Greeks generally believed that Homer was an historical individual, but most scholars are skeptical: no reliable biographical information has been handed down from classical antiquity, and the poems themselves or the northern European sagas. See above, as well as epithets in Homer A characteristic of Homer's style is an epithet, as in "rosy-fingered dawn" or "swift-footed Achilles." These epithets were metric stop-gaps as well as mnemonic devices for the aoidos — both, signs of the deep oral tradition that preceded the written codification of the Iliad and Odyssey. When James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce was an Irish writer and poet, widely considered to be one of the most influential writers of the 20th century. Along with Marcel Proust, Virginia Woolf, and others, Joyce was a key figure in the development of the modernist novel. He is best known for his landmark novel Ulysses (1922). Other major works are the short- uses the phrase "the snot-green sea" he is playing on Homer's familiar epithet "the wine-dark sea". The phrase "Discreet Telemachus" is also considered an epithet.

the Greek term Antonomasia In rhetoric, antonomasia is a substitution of any epithet or phrase for a proper name, such as "the little corporal" for Napoleon I. The reverse process is also sometimes called antonomasia. The word derives from the Greek verb ἀντονομάζειν , meaning "to name differently". Antonomasia is a particular form of, in rhetoric, means substituting any epithet or phrase for a proper name, as Pelides, signifying the "son of Peleus", to identify Achilles; an opposite substitution of a proper name for some generic term is also sometimes called antonomasia, as a Cicero for an orator.

Religion

In many polytheistic Polytheism is the belief of multiple deities, called gods or goddesses, or both. These are usually assembled into a pantheon, along with their own mythologies and rituals. Many religions, both historical and contemporary, have a belief in polytheism, such as Shinto, Ancient Greek Polytheism, Roman Polytheism, Germanic Polytheism, Slavic polytheism, religions, such as in ancient Greek and Roman religions, a deity's epithets, easily multiplied in the practice of cultus In traditional usage, the cult of a religion, quite apart from its sacred writings , its theology or myths, or the personal faith of its believers, is the totality of external religious practice and observance, the neglect of which is the definition of impiety. Cult in this primary sense is literally the "care" (Latin cultus) owed to the generally reflected a particular aspect of that god's essence and role, for which their influence may be obtained for a specific occasion: Apollo Musagetes is "Apollo In Greek and Roman mythology, Apollo , is one of the most important and diverse of the Olympian deities. The ideal of the kouros (a beardless youth), Apollo has been variously recognized as a god of light and the sun; truth and prophecy; medicine, healing, and plague; music, poetry, and the arts; and more. Apollo is the son of Zeus and Leto, and, [as] leader of the Muses The Muses in Greek mythology, poetry, and literature are the goddesses or spirits who inspire the creation of literature and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge, related orally for centuries in the ancient culture, that was contained in poetic lyrics and myths" and therefore patron of the arts and sciences^[3] while Phoibos Apollo is the same deity, but as shining sun-god. "Athena protects the city as polias, oversees handicrafts as ergane, joins battle as promachos The Athena Promachos was a colossal bronze statue of Athena sculpted by Pheidias, which stood between the Propylaea and the Parthenon on the Acropolis of Athens. Athena was the goddess of wisdom and warriors and the protectress of Athens. Pheidias also sculpted two other figures of Athena on the Acropolis, the huge gold and ivory (" and grants victory as nike."^[4]

Alternatively the epithet may identify a particular and localized aspect of the god, sometimes already ancient during the classical epochs of Greece or Rome, such as a reference to the mythological place of birth or numinous presence Numen is a Latin term for the power of either a deity or a spirit that is present in places and objects, in the Roman religion. The many names for Italic gods may obscure this sense of a numinous presence in all the seemingly mundane actions of the natural world at a specific sanctuary: sacrifice might be offered on one and the same occasion to Pythian Apollo (Apollo Pythios) and Delphic Apollo (Apollo Delios). A localizing epithet refers simply to a particular center of veneration and the cultic tradition there, as the god manifested at a particular festival, for example: Zeus Olympios, Zeus as present at Olympia, or Apollo Karneios, Apollo at the Spartan Carneian festival The Carneian festival was one of the most important religious festivals in ancient Sparta and other Dorian cities, held in honor of Apollo Carneios, who was worshipped in various parts of the Peloponnesus. There were nine major festivals on the Spartan calendar, the most important of which were the Carneia, the Gymnopaedia and the Hyakinthia held.

Often the epithet is the result of fusion of the Olympian divinity with an older one: Poseidon Erechtheus, Artemis Orthia The Sanctuary of Artemis Orthia, an Archaic site devoted in Classical times to Artemis, was one of the most important religious sites in the Greek city-state of Sparta, reflect intercultural equations of a divinity with an older one, that is generally considered its pendant; thus most Roman gods and goddesses, especially the Twelve Olympians The Twelve Olympians, also known as the Dodekatheon , in Greek mythology, were the principal gods of the Greek pantheon, residing atop Mount Olympus. The first ancient reference of religious ceremonies for them is found in the Homeric Hymn to Hermes. The classical scheme of the Twelve Olympians (the Canonical Twelve of art and poetry) comprises, had traditional counterparts in Greek, Etruscan, and most other Mediterranean pantheons, e.g. Jupiter Jupiter or HOVE was the king of the gods, and the god of sky and thunder in Roman mythology. He is the equivalent of Zeus in the Greek pantheon. He was called Iuppiter (or Diespiter) Optimus Maximus ("Father God the Best and Greatest"). As the patron deity of ancient Rome, he ruled over laws and social order. He was the chief god of the as head of the Olympian Gods with Zeus Zeus is the King of the Gods in Greek mythology. Zeus was viewed as a king who oversaw the universe. In Hesiod's Theogony, he assigns the various gods their roles. In the Homeric Hymns he is referred to as the chieftain of the gods. He is also called the "Father of Gods and men", according to Hesiod's Theogony. He ruled the Olympians of, but in specific cult places there may even be a different equation, based on one specific aspect of the divinity. Thus the Greek word Trismegistos "thrice grand" was first used as a Greek name for the Egyptian god of science and invention, Thot Thoth was considered one of the more important deities of the Egyptian pantheon. In art, he was often depicted as a man with the head of an ibis or a baboon; these animals were sacred to him. His feminine counterpart was Seshat. His chief shrine was located in the city of Khemennu, later renamed Hermopolis by the Greeks and Eshmûnên in the, and later as an epitheton for the Greek Hermes Hermes is the great messenger of the gods in Greek mythology and additionally as a guide to the Underworld. Hermes was born on Mount Cyllene in Arcadia. An Olympian god, he is also the patron of boundaries and of the travelers who cross them, of shepherds and cowherds, of the cunning of thieves and liars, of orators and wit, of literature and and, finally, the fully equated Roman Mercurius (Mercury Mercury (pronounced /ˈmɜrkjʉri/, Latin: Mercurius listen (help·info)) was a messenger, and a god of trade, the son of Maia Maiestas and Jupiter in Roman mythology. His name is related to the Latin word merx ("merchandise"; compare merchant, commerce, etc.), mercari (to trade), and merces (wages). In his earliest forms, he appears to; both were also messenger of the gods). Among the Greeks, T. H. Price notes^[5] the nurturing power of Kourotrophos might be invoked in sacrifices and recorded in inscription, without specifically identifying Hera Hera was the wife and one of three sisters of Zeus in the Olympian pantheon of classical Greek Mythology. Her chief function was as the goddess of women and marriage. In Roman mythology, Juno was the equivalent mythical character. The cow, and later, the peacock were sacred to her. Hera's mother was Rhea and her father, Cronus or Demeter In Greek mythology Demeter was the goddess of the harvest, who presided over grains, the fertility of the earth, the seasons (personified by the Hours), and the harvest. Though Demeter is often described simply as the goddess of the harvest, she presided also over the sanctity of marriage, the sacred law, and the cycle of life and death. She and.

Some epithets were applied to several deities of a same pantheon, rather accidentally if they had a common characteristic, or deliberately emphasizing their blood- or other ties; thus in pagan Rome, several divinities (including demi-gods, heroes) were given the epitheton Comes Comes was a common epithet for a hero or a (usually minor) divinity, marking it out as linked to a (usually major or equal) divinity, or several celestials to each other, e.g. as a nuclear family.[citation needed] as companion of another (usually major) divinity. An epithet can even be meant for collective use, e.g. in Latin pilleati 'the felt hat-wearers' for the brothers Castor and Pollux Castor and Pollux (/ˈpɒləks/; Latin: Pollūx) or Polydeuces (/ˌpɒlɨˈdjuːsiːz/; Greek: Πολυδεύκης, Poludeukēs, "much sweet wine") were twin brothers in Greek and Roman mythology and collectively known as the Dioskouroi. They were the sons of Leda by Tyndareus and Zeus respectively, the brothers of Helen of Troy and. Some epithets resist explanation.^[6]

Politics and military

In historical, journalistic, and other writings, one often encounters epithets, but it is worthwhile distinguishing different types. While the same rationale as in the genealogical section above may apply, in some cases posthumously politicians, unlike ordinary citizens, often have some control over public opinion and generally more of an interest in their image, so whether forged for themselves or contrived by opponents, their epithets often carry a political message.

Indeed while these differ from official titles as they don't express any legal status, epithets have been awarded and adopted (though the official procedure may provide for the formal decision to be issued by another institution, such as a legislative assembly) by statesmen in power for fairly formal use, not dissimilar in purpose to various sinecures, knighthoods or peerage-type titles in post-feudal societies: they confer prestige without any legal authority, so essentially a matter of image or even propaganda, aimed at a domestic and/or foreign target audience. Examples of such epithets are the various traditions of victory titles (see there) awarded to meritorious generals and rulers since antiquity, and the epithets awarded to entire units, e.g. such adjectives as 'Fidelis' ('loyal') to various Roman legions.

Alternative contemporary usage

In contemporary usage, epithet is sometimes used to refer to an abusive or defamatory phrase, such as a racial epithet The following is a list of ethnic slurs that are, or have been, used as insinuations or allegations about members of a given ethnicity or to refer to them in a derogatory (critical or disrespectful), pejorative (disapproving or contemptuous), or insulting manner in the English-speaking world. For the purposes of this list, an ethnic slur is a term. This euphemistic use is discredited by Martin Manser and other prescriptive linguists In linguistics, prescription can refer both to the codification and the enforcement of rules governing how a language should be used. These rules can cover such topics as standards for spelling and grammar or syntax, or rules for what is deemed socially or politically correct or proper. It includes the mechanisms for establishing and maintaining.^[7]

References

^ Epithetos, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, "A Greek-English Lexicon", at Perseus
^ W. Burkert, The Orientalizing Revolution: Near Eastern Influence on Greek Culture of the Early Archaic Age 1992, p 116.
^ Hence the word mouseion= museum A museum is a building or institution that houses and cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities throughout the world and more local ones exist
^ Walter Burkert, Greek Religion (Harvard University Press, 1985) III.4.4. "The special character of Greek anthropomorphism", especially p. 184.
^ Price, Kourotrophos, 1978, noted by Burkert 1985:184.
^ Burkert 1985:184.
^ Manser, Martin H. (2007), Good Word Guide sixth edition, A&C Black, 147 ISBN 978-0-7136-7759-1

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Linguistics

Literature

Religion

Politics and military

Alternative contemporary usage

References

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