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An epithet (, ), also a byname, is a descriptive term (word or phrase) commonly accompanying or occurring in place of the name of a real or fictitious person, place, or thing. It is usually literally descriptive, as in Alfred the Great, Suleiman the Magnificent, Richard the Lionheart, and Ladislaus the Short, or Allusion, as in Edward the Confessor, William the Conqueror, Æthelred the Unready, John Lackland, Mehmed II and Bloody Mary.
The word epithet also may refer to an abusive, defamatory, or derogatory word or phrase. This use is criticized by Martin Manser and other proponents of linguistic prescription. H. W. Fowler noted in 1926 that " epithet is suffering a vulgarization that is giving it an abusive imputation."Fowler. H. W. (1965) 1926. A Dictionary of Modern English Usage. (2nd ed.) Rev. By Sir Ernest Gowers. New York; Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 161.
An epithet is linked to its noun by long-established usage. Not every adjective is an epithet. An epithet is especially recognizable when its function is largely decorative, such as if "cloud-gathering Zeus" is employed other than in reference to conjuring up a storm. "The epithets are decorative insofar as they are neither essential to the immediate context nor modeled especially for it. Among other things, they are extremely helpful to fill out a half-verse", Walter Burkert has noted.Burkert, W. The Orientalizing Revolution: Near Eastern Influence on Greek Culture of the Early Archaic Age, 1992, p.116.
Some epithets are known by the Latin term epitheton necessarium, as they are required to distinguish the bearers, as an alternative to numbers after a prince's name—such as Richard the Lionheart (Richard I of England), or Charles the Fat alongside Charles the Bald. The same epithet can be used repeatedly joined to different names, such as Alexander the Great as well as Constantine the Great.
Other epithets can easily be omitted without serious risk of confusion and are therefore known as epitheton ornans. Thus, the classical Roman author Virgil systematically called his main hero pius Aeneas, the epithet being pius, meaning religiously observant, humble and wholesome, as well as calling the armsbearer of Aeneas fidus Achates, the epithet being fidus, which means faithful or loyal.
The Greek term , 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 , as a Cicero for an orator. The use of a father's name or ancestor's name, such as "Pelides" in the case of Achilles, or "Saturnia" in the case of the goddess Juno in Virgil's Aeneid, is specifically called a patronymic device and is in its own class of epithet.
In William Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet, epithets are used in the prologue, such as "star-cross'd lovers" and "death-mark'd love."
Epithets were, in layman's terms, glorified nicknames that could be used to represent one's style, artistic nature, or even geographical reference. They originated to simply serve the purpose of dealing with names that were hard to pronounce or just unpleasant.Wheeler, L. K. "Epithets", web.cn.edu, Carson-Newman College; accessed 25 October 2013. It from there went to something that could be very significant assigned by elders or counterparts to represent one's position in the community, or it could be a representation of whomever one wanted to be or thought he was.Headlam, W. "The Classic Review." jstor.org. Cambridge University Press, accessed 25 October 2013. The elegance of this movement was used throughout history and even modern day, with many examples ranging from "Aphrodite the Heavenly & Zeus the Protector of Guests" all the way to "Johnny Manziel & King James".
American comic books tend to give epithets to , such as The Phantom being "The Ghost Who Walks", Superman called "The Man of Steel", and "The Dynamic Duo" Batman and Robin, who are individually known as "The Dark Knight" and "The Boy Wonder".Thompson, Don. All in Color for a Dime, Volume 25, p. 77. Arlington House, 1970.
Additionally, epíteto, the Spanish version of epithet, is commonly used throughout poems in Castilian literature.
Alternatively, the epithet may identify a particular and localized aspect of the god, such as a reference to the mythological place of birth or Numen at a specific sanctuary: sacrifice might be offered on one and the same occasion to Pythian Apollo ( Apollo Pythios) and Delphic Apollo ( Apollo Delphinios). 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.
Often the epithet is the result of fusion of the Olympian divinity with an older one. Erectheus and Artemis Orthia 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, had traditional counterparts in Greek, Etruscan, and most other Mediterranean pantheons, such as Jupiter as head of the Olympian Gods with Zeus. But in specific cults there may be a different equation, based on one specific aspect of the divinity. Thus, the Greek word ("thrice grand") was first used as a Greek name for the Egyptian god of science and invention, Thoth, later as an for the Greek Hermes and, finally, the fully equated Roman Mercurius Mercury (both were messenger of the gods). Among the Greeks, T.H. Price notesPrice, T. H. Kourotrophos, 1978, noted by Burkert 1985:184. that the nurturing power of might be invoked in sacrifices and recorded in inscription, without specifically identifying Hera or Demeter.
Some epithets were applied to several deities of the same pantheon rather accidentally if they had a common characteristic, or deliberately, emphasizing their blood or other ties. Thus, in pagan Rome, several divinities gods and heroes were given the Comes 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. Some epithets resist explanation.
Catholics, Eastern Orthodox Christians, and Christians of other churches practice the use of epithets in the veneration of Jesus Christ (e.g., "Christ"; "Prince of Peace"; "Good Shepherd"), of Mary, Mother of Jesus (e.g., "Theotokos"; "Panagia"), and of the saints (e.g., "Pope Saint John Paul the Great, Saint Theophan the Recluse"). "Our Lady of Lourdes" is essentially periphrasis, except where some aspect of the Virgin is invoked.
Orators have a variety of epithets that they can employ that have different meanings. The most common are fixed epithets and transferred epithets. A fixed epithet is the repetitive use of the same word or phrase for the same person or object. A transferred epithet qualifies a noun other than the person or thing it is describing. This is also known as a hypallage. This can often involve shifting a modifier from the animate to the inanimate; for example, "cheerful money" and "suicidal sky".
Orators take special care when using epithets so as to not use them as smear words. Orators could be accused of racial or abusive epithets if used incorrectly. American journalist William Safire discussed the use of the word in a 2008 column in The New York Times: "'I am working on a piece about nationalism with a focus on epithet as a smear word,' writes David Binder, my longtime Times colleague, 'which was still a synonym for 'delineation' or 'characterization' in my big 1942 Webster's but now seems to be almost exclusively a synonym for 'derogation' or 'smear word.' ... In the past century, epithet blossomed as 'a word of abuse,' today gleefully seized upon to describe political smears."
The distinction between a byname and a surname is that the byname is not usually heritable, and may change for any given person as his circumstances change. Richard the Bald, for example, was presumably not always bald, and Richard of Brampton may not have always lived at Brampton.
The use of bynames did not end with the adoption of surnames. In some cases, before the adoption of middle names, government records, such as taxes lists, included people with both the same given name and the same surname. This led to the use of bynames to further distinguish the person. For example, one "John Smith" might be described as "John Smith of the mill", while another might be described as "John Smith the short".
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