A few thoughts on the Epitheton Ornans, or ornamental epithet. This is more than a nickname, but a formalized word or phrase associated with a person. Classical epic poetry makes heavy use of this rhetorical device. For example, in Homer Achilles is often referred to as \u201cpodas okus\u201d or \u201cswift-footed\u201d, whereas Agamemnon is often \u201canax andron\u201d or \u201cruler of men\u201d. There is internal evidence that these poems used a stock list of epithets of different lengths and stress paterns to fit into whatever metrical context was needed. In this way, the epithets could aid improvized oral performance, much as a jazz musician has a repetoire of riffs and chord progressions at his command which can be inserted to fill out a phrase.<\/p>\n
The Romans allowed the honor of an \u201cagnomen\u201d for significant military victories. So Publius Cornelius Scipio, after defeating the Carthaginian Hannibal, became Scipio Africanus. Over the centuries, this trend escalated. So, by the 4th Century A.D., we have awe-inspiring names such as \u201cImperator Constantinus Maximus Augustus Persicus maximus, Germanicus maximus, Sarmaticus maximus, Britannicus maximus, Adiabenicus maximus, Medicus maximus, Gothicus maximus, Cappadocicus maximus, Arabicus maximus, Armenicus maximus, Dacicus maximus\u201d. (Today We just call him \u201cConstantine the Great\u201d which is a great time-saver)<\/p>\n
The trend continued. If you\u2019ve seen an old British penny, from 100 years ago, you would read the legend \u201cVICTORIA D G BRITT REG F D\u201d, short for \u201cVictoria, by the Grace of God, Queen of England, Defender of the Faith\u201d.<\/p>\n
But the use of epithets has been on the wane for many years now, at least in the optimistic parts of the world. North Korea may have its \u201cDear Leader\u201d and the late \u201cGreat Leader\u201d, but we never even considered formally naming Eisenhower \u201cThe German Slayer\u201d. We ended up with \u201cIke\u201d. I guess we like our leaders to be mere men, and not gods. The Cult of Personality is difficult to maintain in a democracy with a free press. \u201cNo man is a hero to his butler\u201d.
Sure, we have our little nicknames, \u201cThe Artist formally known as Prince\u201d, \u201cIron\u201d Mike Tyson or the \u201cScud Stud\u201d, but that is done in jest, or in the entertainment world (which amounts to the same thing). We will never see \u201cScud Stud\u201d carved in marble or engraved in brass.<\/p>\n
But once a year, on this date (or the nearest Monday) I am reminded of the most prominent example of epitheton ornans in common use today. I refer to the ubiquitous use of the phrase \u201cSlain Civil Rights Leader\u201d. The fact that I do not need to name the owner of this epithet demonstrates its currency. A search of Google News shows almost 1,500 uses<\/a> of this phrase in recent press clips. This epithet is so tightly associated with him that can be used as a substitue for his name, much as a medieval scholar could speak of \u201cthe Philosopher\u201d to refer to Aristotle without ambiguity.<\/p>\n I\u2019m trying to think of any other prominent examples of such epithets in common use today. I can\u2019t think of any. Can you?<\/p>\n One wonders how long this epithet will remain? Will it outlast the generation that heard his message and headed his Dream? We can hope so. But I do note that in the generation after the assasinations of Lincoln, Garfield and McKinnley, all three were popularly acclaimed with the epithet \u201cour martyred president\u201d. But a search of Google News shows zero hits for \u201cmartyred president\u201d, though there are 271 hits for \u201cPresident Lincoln\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A few thoughts on the Epitheton Ornans, or ornamental epithet. This is more than a nickname, but a formalized word or phrase associated with a person. Classical epic poetry makes heavy use of this rhetorical device. For example, in Homer Achilles is often referred to as \u201cpodas okus\u201d or \u201cswift-footed\u201d, whereas Agamemnon is often \u201canax […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-6","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-uncategorized","7":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.robweir.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.robweir.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.robweir.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.robweir.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.robweir.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.robweir.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.robweir.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.robweir.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.robweir.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}