[dasil003]

> To me it's an epithet - mostly used for dead people - to say they spent time with their kids and put them before other things like their career.

It's an epithet to put your family before your career? Wow, I pity anyone who views life that way.

Edit: Ah, didn't realize epithet could be non-negative, in that case it makes sense

[dasmoth]

"an adjective or phrase expressing a quality or attribute regarded as characteristic of the person or thing mentioned."

Some epithets are negative. But certainly not all.

[wavefunction]

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

Apparently the Greeks got this from earlier Indo-European traditions.