Anybody who reads Homer cannot but notice that he uses many epithets in conjunction with the names of gods and men. These names plus epithet constitute what folklorists refer to as formulas and are a prominent feature of oral poetry. For example, two of the most famous of these are rhododaktulos Ēōs (rosy-fingered Dawn, Ēōs is cognate with Aurora) and Athēnē glaukōpis (bright-eyed Athena). Milman Parry and his assistant, Albert Lord, wrote the definitive works on the formulaic tradition in oral poetry. You can do no worse than to get hold of a copy of The Singer of Tales (1960) and read it.

[Added some macra.]

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