What is an epithet?
The concept of "epithet" comes from the Greek"epitheton", which in translation means "added or attached." Having repulsed from the Greek, we will try to define what an epithet is in Russian. An epithet is a language tool, a definition of a phenomenon or an object (here is an addition, an appendix to an object or phenomenon), but the definition is not simple, but artistic, "applied to the name of an object for greater imagery."
Answering the question about what an epithet is, you canon the one hand, it is better to imagine phenomena or objects; on the other hand, they convey the mood of the author, his attitude to the depicted one, and on the third, allow him to colorfully depict the objects or phenomena described writer, emphasize their unique characteristics. Thanks to the epithet we see, touch, hear the object, we feel the author's attitude.
Characterizing the epithet as a definition, we alsowe add that the definition is not logical, but figurative. For example, "blue skies" is an image. Epithet describes not only the color of the sky, it conveys the mood. Blue skies are light, and joy, and beauty. This is not the blue dress worn by Dasha or Katya, nor the blue eyes of the criminal from the police report. In the epithet "blue", attached to the noun "heaven", there is a scope, and space, and a sense of flight.
What are epithets? Examples
For examples of epithets, first things firstTo appeal, perhaps, to folk poetry, where, in fact, the epithets, now called permanent ones, were born: a good fellow, a red girl, a white swan, a blue sea.
With the development of poetry, I must say, epithets tooDeveloped, becoming more beautiful, refined, refined, extraordinary. Epithets began to be used both literally and figuratively. Let's consider for an example the initial lines from the so-called Caucasian novel "Fatima" by the Ossetian poet Kosta Khetagurov:
The regal Kazbek woke up,
Sunrise welcoming rosy ...
Epithet "regal", rather, is suitable asdetermination to man, rather than to grief. There is an obvious figurative meaning. The epithet "regal" was used not accidentally, it emphasizes the greatness of the mighty Caucasian peak. It is no coincidence that another epithet is used-rosy. It would seem to be ruddy to be human, and not dawn. But thanks to the place used epithet, and we can visibly imagine this ruddy dawn, and feel the enthusiastic attitude of the author to the majestic Caucasian nature.
The poets, whatever you say, have their own, unique world. They and the sail can be rebellious and alone, like a man, a horse pink, the Caucasus gray. And all this together - epithets.
Let's try to answer the question again, what is an epithet? Epithet is a figurative adjective, through which a picture of life is created in a work of art.
