Ovid,Met., xii, c. 160. A little mockery?

[hlawson38]

Ovid Metamorphoses, book xii, near line 160

I want to move beyond literal meaning. Is my interpretation acceptable? Or bizarre? Expecially with "noctem . . . trahunt", "vices adita atque exhausta", and reading the questions at the end of the passage as addressed to the reader/listener.

Context: Before the walls of Troy, the Greek warriors are feasting after battle. Their amusement is not the plucked strings of the cithara, not the singing of bards,

. . . sed noctem sermone trahunt, virtusque loquendi
materia est: pugnas referunt hostisque suasque,
inque vices adita atque exhausta pericula saepe
commemorare iuvat,— quid enim loqueretur Achilles,
aut quid apud magnum potius loquerentur Achillem?

. . . but they drag out the night in talk, of bravery [in battle]
their fights and their foes;
how each delights to take his turn and use it up relating the exploits of the day.
What [ O listener] would Achilles talk about?
Or, what else would the others talk about before mighty Achilles?

[Qimmik]

sed noctem sermone trahunt -- but they drag out the night in talk

virtusque loquendi materia est -- and bravery is the subject of the talking

pugnas referunt hostisque suasque -- they tell [stories of] combats of the enemy and of their own

inque vices adita atque exhausta pericula saepe commemorare iuvat -- they enjoy taking turns reminding one another of dangerous situations they entered[voluntarily] approached/into and endured/put an end to

quid enim loqueretur Achilles, aut quid apud magnum potius loquerentur Achillem? -- for what would Achilles more readily talk about, or what would [the others] more readily talk about in the presence of might Achilles?

potius should be taken with both loqueretur and loquerentur.

Of course, when the embassy comes to Achilles in Book 9 of the Iliad, he's singing and accompanying himself on the lyre, but he's singing of the glorious deeds of men.

[hlawson38]

sed noctem sermone trahunt -- but they drag out the night in talk

pugnas referunt hostisque suasque -- they tell [stories of] combats of the enemy and of their own

. . . .

inque vices adita atque exhausta pericula saepe commemorare iuvat -- they enjoy taking turns reminding one another of dangerous situations they entered[voluntarily] approached/into and endured/put an end to
. . . .

potius should be taken with both loqueretur and loquerentur.

Superb critique, Qimmk, for which much thanks! The whole reply was helpful, but the parts I quoted above nailed the problems about which I had thought the most, and the most inconclusively.