Lodging for the Seer

53Then said the godlike Theoclymenus:
“Whither, my son, am I to go? What house
Of all the chiefs of rugged Ithaca
Shall I seek shelter in? with you, perhaps,
In your own palace where your mother dwells.”

54And thus discreet Telemachus replied:
“I would have asked you at another time
To make our house your home, for there would be
No lack of kindly welcome. It were not well
To ask you now, for I shall not be there,
Nor will my mother see you —since not oft
Does she appear before the suitor-train,
But in an upper room, apart from them,
Weaves at her loom a web. Another man
I name, Eurymachus, the illustrious son
Of the sage Polybus, to be your host.
The noblest of the suitors he, and seeks
Most earnestly to wed the queen, and take
The rank Odysseus held. Olympian Zeus,
Who dwells in ether, knows the fatal day
That may overtake the suitors ere she wed.”