At least in the Homeric epics epithets were used as mnemonic devices for oral story-tellers and their audience to keep track of who was who, like 'swift-footed

At least in the Homeric epics epithets were used as mnemonic devices for oral story-tellers and their audience to keep track of who was who, like 'swift-footed Achilles': https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epithets_in_Homer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epithets_in_Homer Apparently the Greeks got this from earlier Indo-European traditions.