σκῆπτρον

A. staff or stick, used by the lame or aged, Il. 18.416, Od. 13.437, 14.31, 17.199, 18.103; ἰσχὺν . . νέμοντες ἐπὶ σκήπτροις A. Ag. 75; σκήπτρῳ προδεικνύς, of a blind man feeling his way, S. OT 456; πρεσβῦται . . σκήπτροισιν ἄκασκα προβῶντες Cratin. 126: metaph. of the daughters of Oedipus, ὦ σκῆπτρα φωτός his staffs or supports, S. OC 1109, cf. 848:—the Prose word is βακτηρία.

II. staff or baton, esp. as the badge of command, sceptre: in Hom. borne by kings and chiefs, and transmitted from father to son (whence Il. 2.101 sqq. is called ἡ τοῦ σκήπτρου παράδοσις, Th. 1.9), Il. 9.156, Od. 11.569: also borne by heralds, Il. 7.277, al.; by speakers, who on rising to speak received it from the herald, 1.234, 18.505, 23.568, Od. 2.37; by priests and soothsayers, Il. 1.15, A. Ag. 1265; later by minstrels, first in Hes. Th. 30; ς. χρύσεον Il. 1.15, 2.268, Od. 11.91, 569; wrought by Hephaestus, Il. 2.101; χρυσείοις ἥλοισι πεπαρμένον 1.245. In oaths or protests it was held up, the gods being called to witness, ib.234, 7.412, 10.321,328; ὁ δ’ ὅρκος ἦν τοῦ ς. ἐπανάτασις Arist. Pol. 1285b12; used as a stick or cudgel to punish the refractory, Il. 2.199,265, Pi. O. 7.28, S. OT 811.

2. as a symbol of royalty, kingly power, etc., Il. 6.159, 9.38; τοι Ζεὺς ἐγγυάλιξε σκῆπτρόν τ’ ἠδὲ θέμιστας ib.99, cf. 156,298, A. Pr. 172 (anap.); τὸ θεῖον Διὸς ς. S. Ph. 140 (lyr.): freq. in pl. in this sense, Hdt. 7.52; τύραννα ς. A. Pr. 761, cf. Eu. 626; ὃς . . σκῆπτρα καὶ θρόνους ἔχει S. OC 425, cf. 449, etc.; σκῆπτρα χώρας E. HF 1167.

III. = Hebr. Shevet, of the tribes (φυλαί) of Israel, LXX 3 Ki. 11.13,al.(but in 1 Ki. 10.20 sq., φυλή is a sub-division of σκῆπτρον).

IV. = λυχνὶς στεφανωματική, Ps.Dsc. 3.100.