*"an adjective or phrase expressing a quality or attribute regarded as character... | Hacker News

Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submit

		dasmoth on Oct 6, 2017 \| parent \| context \| favorite \| on: What I learned about solitude from my time with he... "an adjective or phrase expressing a quality or attribute regarded as characteristic of the person or thing mentioned." Some epithets are negative. But certainly not all.

wavefunction on Oct 6, 2017 [–]

At least in the Homeric epics epithets were used as mnemonic devices for oral story-tellers and their audience to keep track of who was who, like 'swift-footed Achilles':

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epithets_in_Homer

Apparently the Greeks got this from earlier Indo-European traditions.

Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact