The Epithet reference article from the English Wikipedia on 24-Apr-2004 (provided by Fixed Reference: snapshots of Wikipedia from wikipedia.org)

Epithet

Epithet is a descriptive word or phrase, often metaphoric, that is essentially a reduced or condensed appositive. Epithets are sometimes attached to a person's name, such as Richard the Lionheart. In contemporary usage, it often refers to an abusive or defamatory phrase. (epithet quote from Mrs Malaprop in Sheridan's The Rivals is needed here)

Not every adjective is an epithet, even worn clichéss. An epithet is linked to its noun by long-established usage and not otherwise employed. Sometimes the epithet is required to distinguish, say Charles the Fat from Charles the Bald.

When James Joyce uses the phrase "the snot-green sea" he is playing on Homer's familiar epithet "the wine-dark sea" with a kind of mock-epithet.

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