Antinoüs Rebukes Eumaeus

41“Give ear, you suitors of the illustrious queen.
As to this stranger, I have seen him once.
The swineherd brought him; but I know him not,
And of what race he is I cannot tell.”

42He spoke; Antinous chid the swineherd thus:
“Why have you brought him, too well known yourself?
Have we not vagabonds enough? enough
Of sturdy beggars, pests of every feast.
Or is it a light matter that they throng
Hither to waste the substance of your lord,
And therefore you are with this fellow here?”

43And thus, Eumaeus, you did make reply:
“Antinous, high as is your station, you
Have spoken ill. What man goes ever forth
To bid a stranger to his house, unless
The stranger be of those whose office is
To serve the people, be he seer, or leech,
Or architect, or poet heaven-inspired,
Whose song is gladly heard? All these are called
To feasts wherever men are found; but none
Call in the poor, to live upon their means.
Antinous, you, of all the suitor-train,
Do ever with the greatest harshness treat
The servants of Odysseus, chiefly me.
I heed it not while sage Penelope
Dwells in the palace with her godlike son.”