Madeline Sigler - Literary 1 lyrics

The literary device utilized to describe Poseidon as "the earth shaker" is an epithet. An epithet is a small nickname for characters and is most commonly used in epic poems to satisfy the syllables needed in a line. The use of an epithet here is to be descriptive of Poseidon. Occasionally, "the earth shaker" will replace Poseidon's name in the poem and both Homer's and modern day audiences need to be aware that the epithet is referring to Poseidon.