Next to the βασιλῆες came the ἔξοχοι ἄνδρες (Il. ii. 188), or ἀριστῆες, of the Greek army. They are pretty clearly distinguished from the kings in the speech of Achilles (ix. 334); when, after describing the niggardliness of Agamemnon with respect to booty, he goes on to say,
ἄλλα δ’ ἀριστήεσσι δίδου γέρα καὶ βασιλεῦσιν·
which I understand to mean, he gave to these two classes prizes different, i. e. proportioned to their respective stations.
The language of the Catalogue pointedly marks the same distinction in other words. At the beginning, the Poet invites the Muses to tell him (ver. 487),
οἵτινες ἡγεμόνες Δαναῶν καὶ κοίρανοι ἦσαν,
and at the close he says (ver. 760),
οὗτοι ἄρ’ ἡγεμόνες Δαναῶν καὶ κοίρανοι ἦσαν.
These two verses appear to be in evident correspondence with each other: and if so, we may the more confidently rely on the language as carefully chosen to describe the two classes, first the kings as κοίρανοι (cf. Il. ii. 204, 207), and, secondly, the ἀριστῆες as ἡγεμόνες.
This class, it is probable, consisted,
First, of the leaders of the minor and less significant contingents.