Epithet

A fixed descriptive name attached to a god — Zeus "the aegis-holder" and "son of Cronos", Athena "Tritogeneia" and "bright-eyed", Hera "gold-shod", Odin "Valfather" — which in the poems identifies the god as surely as the name, and in Roman cult (Jupiter Stator, Feretrius, Optimus Maximus) names a distinct temple and function.