The Bedford Glossary of Critical and Literary Terms - Ross Murfin 2018

Homeric epithet

Homeric epithet: Named for the ancient Greek poet Homer, a short descriptive phrase, often involving compound adjectives, repeated so often that a more or less permanent association between the phrase and noun it was originally meant to modify is created.

EXAMPLES: Examples from Homer include “swift-footed Achilles” and “Odysseus, sacker of cities.” Patrick O’Brian, author of the epic Aubrey-Maturin series of historical novels (1970—2004), made Homer’s “the wine-dark sea” the title of the sixteenth novel (1993).