In ancient times, the epithet was a commonly used byname in both the oral and written traditions. The epithet was a descriptive name, not unlike a modern nickname, and was used extensively in epic poetry. The most famous use of the epithet was those used in the Homeric epics the Iliad and the Odyssey. The use of epithets was used as well in a much earlier Mesopotamian poem known as the Epic of Gilgamesh. In the Homeric Poems and the Poem of Gilgamesh the two stories share stock epithets and epic similes. The paper will first discuss epithets in the Homeric poems, then discuss the epithets in the Epic of Gilgamesh in comparison. Homeric Epithets Places The epithet, as previously mentioned, was essentially a byname. It saw its full use in the Homeric Epic which is why this paper chooses to discuss the Homeric poems first. While it was defiantly used to describe individuals such as Gods and certain characters, it was also used to describe certain places as well. Homeric scholar Bowra discussed this in her analysis:
“Homeric …show more content…
Cities where especially important to ancient Greek civilization- they were the primary spheres of influence in their time; a time of city states. Her basic contention is that there are certain words that are epithets but are seen as just descriptions. For example, The Greek word for “walled” is eureiyeos. So the epithet for Troy in this case would be “the walled city”. Bowra explains that “the absence of [this] from the description of other cities does not indicate that they lacked walls but rather that those of Troy were of particular importance- this is obviously helps explain why it took the Acheans ten years to capture it” (Bowra pg.17). The other words are that of euounros, which is towers. Again, the same concept, its not that other cities didn’t have towers its just that those of the city of Troy were that