Telemachus asserts authority

21And then Telemachus, the prudent, spoke: —
“Why, O my mother! can you not endure
That thus the well-graced poet should delight
His hearers with a theme to which his mind
Is inly moved? The bards deserve no blame;
Zeus is the cause, for he at will inspires
The lay that each must sing. Reprove not, then,
The minstrel who relates the unhappy fate
Of the Greek warriors. All men most applaud
The song that has the newest theme; and you —
Strengthen your heart to hear it. Keep in mind
That not alone Odysseus is cut off
From his return, but that with him at Troy
Have many others perished. Now withdraw
Into your chamber; ply your household tasks,
The loom, the spindle; bid your maidens speed
Their work. To say what words beseem a feast
Belongs to man, and most to me; for here
Within these walls the authority is mine.”

22The matron, wondering at his words, withdrew
To her own place, but in her heart laid up
Her son’s wise sayings. When she now had reached,
With her attendant maids, the upper rooms,
She mourned Odysseus, her beloved spouse,
And wept, till blue-eyed Athena closed her lids
In gentle slumbers. Noisily, meanwhile,
The suitors revelled in the shadowy halls;
And thus Telemachus, the prudent, spoke: —