Analyzing and Interpreting Literature / Unit 16 AIL 1509 short lesson, about 20 seconds
The Epithet
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The idea
An epithet is a fixed descriptive phrase attached to a name and repeated through a poem. The glossary has no headword. In oral composition the repetition served the performer; on the page it produces the formulaic texture readers recognise as epic.
In practice
A fixed phrase, repeated.
Where people slip
Oral in origin, formulaic in effect.
Your place on the trail
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