From Royal Titularies to Divine Epithets

What’s in a Divine Name? Religious Systems and Human Agency in the Ancient Mediterranean (open access), 2024

Recent work on personal names in Luwic languages (mainly Luwian, Lycian and Carian) has shown that divine epithets play an important role in their formation. The present article takes this line of inquiry one step further by proposing a method for identifying divine epithets in these anthroponyms. Theonym + divine epithet formulae attested in the different corpora are sometimes directly or indirectly reflected in personal names. In other cases, it is possible to restore divine onomastic formulae through personal names thanks to a combinatorial analysis and parallels. It is then provisionally proposed to identify five main types of divine epithets entering into the formation of Luwic personal names: geographical epithets, epithets corresponding to the place of action of the deity, functional epithets, laudatory epithets and divine titles.

The series, founded in 1923, publishes monographs or other studies on antiquity and its tradition.

L. Karfiková/S. Douglass/J. Zachhuber (eds.), Gregory of Nyssa, Contra Eunomium: An English Version with Supporting Studies. Proceedings of the 10th International Colloquium on Gregory of Nyssa, Leiden (2007), 257–278

The essay discusses Gregory of Nyssa's defence of Basil' theory of naming God on the basis of human conception (epinoia).

Gecser Ottó et. al.: Promoting the Saints: Cults and Their Contexts from Late Antiquity until the Early Modern Period; Essays in Honor of Gábor Klaniczay for his 60th Birthday. Budapest; New York: CEU Press, pp. 165-174., 2011

Gregory of Nyssa: <i>In Canticum Canticorum</i>, 2018

The present study analyses two epithets related to the Egyptian activities abroad: “who brings the produce from the foreign countries” (inn(.w) xr(y.w)t m xAs.wt) and its variants, and “who places the fear of Horus in the foreign countries” (dd(.w) nrw Hrw m xAs.wt). As with other Old Kingdom epithets, they have generally been overlooked as informative data on the administrative roles and vital experiences of their holders. In order to evaluate their potential significance as sources of information, both expressions are brought into connection with the titles of their holders and related biographical accounts. As a result, the epithets become complementary data that help to profile the actual functions and actions of these officials. For the sake of completion, certain titles related to the acquisition of intelligence are also included in this study. Moreover, further thoughts on the possible origins and values of Old Kingdom epithets are also presented.

Conference: III International Online Conference on the Study of Religions, "Religion and Everyday Life: past, present, future", 2009

Despite being such a characteristic feature of Greek religious language, Greek cult epithets remain a relatively new area in the study of Greek religion. 1 So far discussions have tended to focus on different epithets qualifying gods' names, but the use of epithets without a divine name has received only passing remarks. 2 There are three common ways of referring to a god: by divine name alone, by epithet alone, and by the combination of god's name and epithet. While some epithets are specifi c to a single deity and hence easily recognizable when standing alone (such as Phoibos, Pythios and Lykeios for Apollo; Phytalmios for Poseidon), it is less straightforward with what Brulé calls 'épiclèses trans-divines'. 3 Trans-divine epithets (such as Ἐπήκοος, Ἐπιφανής, Ἡγεμών and Σωτήρ) were epithets that could apply to more than one god in the Greek pantheon. These might often be gods with shared genealogies and/or cults (such as altars or shrines), 4 but the same epithet could also be borne independently by different gods who all lay claim, in one way or another, to the function referred to in the cult epithet. Given that a principal feature of Greek cult epithets is to identify a particular function or aspect of a god, it is not at all surprising that different gods performing similar functions, if in different ways or modes of operation, can carry the same epithet. 5 Unlike some epithets which were exclusively or frequently associated with certain deities, 6 Soteira had no consistent association with any particular divinity, and could apply to more goddesses than some other 'trans-divine' epithets. Goddesses called Soteira ('Saviouress') are ubiquitous in the Greek world: Artemis, Athena, Hecate, Hera, Hygieia, Isis, Kore, Meter Theon, and Tyche. 7 As it is borne by so many divinities, ambiguities can arise as to which goddess is meant when Soteira does not accompany a divine name. This practice of signifying a god with a bare epithet is, of course, not unique to Soteira, 8 but this is probably the commonest epithet used in this way. Without collecting all available instances of * I am most grateful to Professor Robert Parker for commenting on an earlier version of this article. I thank also Daniele Miano and Greg Votruba for discussing specifi c issues with me. 1 The main theoretical analyses of the Greek cult epithets are H. Usener (1948), Götternamen (Frankfurt), 3 rd ed.; R. Parker (2003), The Problem of the Greek Cult Epithet, Opuscula Atheniensia 28, 173-183 (with bibliography); N. Belayche et al. (2005), Nommer les dieux (Turnhout); P. Brulé (2007), Le langage des épiclèses dans le polythéisme hellénique (l'exemple de quelques divinités féminines), in P. Brulé, La Grèce d'à côté (Rennes), 313-332 (revision of his article in ways of divine naming

Camedieval, 2021

This brief article discusses how modern political and social discourse in the UK, Ireland, and the US still relies on shorthands derived from the early medieval rulers of England. Alfred and the cakes, Cnut and the tide, and Æthelred the Unready's epithet are discussed. Camedieval, a project of CALM and GEMS at Cambridge, aims to make medievalism accessible and relevant to a wider audience.