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 .