Home › Glossary › Letter S

stock epithet

Device
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A conventional descriptive phrase repeatedly used for a particular noun

Detailed Definition
A stock epithet is a conventional, formulaic adjective-noun pairing used repeatedly in oral or epic poetry (e.g., “rosy-fingered dawn,” “swift-footed Achilles”) to aid memorization and evoke traditional associations; it functions as mnemonic device and cultural shorthand within poetic diction.
Example
Example in poetry:
In Homer’s “Iliad,” stock epithet appears as “rosy-fingered Dawn” or “swift-footed Achilles”; In Anglo-Saxon poetry, stock epithet includes “whale-road” for sea and “ring-giver” for king; In Virgil’s “Aeneid,” stock epithet describes “pious Aeneas” repeatedly; In Old English “Beowulf,” stock epithet uses “battle-sweat” for blood and “sky-candle” for sun
Additional Notes
Stock epithet is a conventional descriptive phrase (e.g., “rosy-fingered dawn”) reused from tradition; while common in epic poetry, modern poets may parody or reclaim it for irony.
Also Known As
Formulaic descriptor Conventional modifier Traditional tag descriptive tag homeric epithet
Skip to main content