μισθός
Disapproving interpretations of this term have added to the negative reception of the character of Dolon, from the scholia in the Venetus B and Townley manuscripts through to negative assumptions made in passing in more recent studies such as Schnapp-Goubeillon 1982:58, Holoka 1983:8, and Coffee 2009:62. (Hektor is criticized as well for offering a reward that he does not himself have, at that point, to give.) In Homeric diction, the term is used as remuneration for work, such as woodworking (Iliad 12.435) or shepherding (Odyssey 10.84), and can be used within a taunt (Odyssey 18.358, although so can ‘guest-gift’ [see Odyssey 9.370]). But misthos is also used for what Poseidon and Apollo expect in return for building the walls of Troy (Iliad 21.445, 21.450, 21.451, 21.457), so the labor itself need not be common. μισθός is also connected with another ambush episode: Menelaos says that the “pay” for the men who watched for Agamemnon’s return on Aegisthus’ behalf was two talents of gold (Odyssey 4.524–526). There, the task has a negative sense to it, but does the fact that pay is involved make this so? Focusing exclusively on the word misthos here ignores both that the reward is called a δῶρον in this same line (similar to Nestor calling his offer a δόσις, see 10.213) and that the spy will get κῦδος (10.307) for this mission as well. There may indeed be an implicit contrast in the poetry between the rewards offered on each side on this night, but condemnation of Dolon based on a notion of “work-for-pay” is too extreme, nor does it seem evident that misthos is indicative of the “unheroic” character of Dolon or of the Doloneia as a whole.