Laertes in The Odyssey is Odysseus’s elderly father, the former king of Ithaca, and a symbol of grief, loyalty, and the old heroic generation.

Quick Scoop: Who is Laertes?

  • Laertes is the father of Odysseus, husband of Anticleia, and grandfather of Telemachus.
  • He was once king of Ithaca but later withdrew to his farm, where he lives in sorrow during Odysseus’s long absence.
  • In many later traditions, he is also described as a veteran hero, counted among the Argonauts and hunters of the Calydonian Boar.

Laertes’s role in The Odyssey

  • When the poem takes place, Laertes is old, living in a simple house in the countryside, working his orchards and mourning his missing son.
  • Penelope uses him in a clever ruse, saying she must finish weaving a burial shroud for Laertes before choosing a new husband, then secretly unweaves it at night to delay the suitors.
  • Near the end, Odysseus reveals himself to Laertes, and their emotional reunion completes Odysseus’s return to family and homeland.

Why Laertes matters thematically

  • Laertes shows the cost of Odysseus’s absence: his grief, physical decline, and isolation highlight the suffering of those left behind.
  • Their reunion represents restoration—of family bonds, rightful kingship, and peace in Ithaca after the slaughter of the suitors.
  • Even in old age, Laertes briefly returns to heroism, fighting alongside Odysseus and killing Eupeithes, father of the suitor Antinous, after Athena restores his strength.

TL;DR: Laertes is Odysseus’s aging father, a retired king and former hero who lives in mourning on his farm until he is finally reunited with his son and helps secure Ithaca’s peace.

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