σκῆπτρον σκῆπτρον, ου, τό, σκήπτω a staff or stick to lean upon, a walking-stick, Hom., Aesch.: metaph. of the daughters of Oedipus, σκῆπτρα φωτός his staffs or supports, Soph. a staff, as the badge of command, a sceptre: in Hom. borne by chiefs, and transmitted from father to son, whence the passage in Il. 2 is called ἡ τοῦ σκήπτρου παράδοσις, Thuc.:—also borne by judges, by heralds, by speakers, who on rising to speak received it from the herald, Hom. the sceptre, i. e. royalty, kingly power, rule, Il., Trag.