Laertes

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Categories: Greek mythology stubs | Argonauts | Greek mythology | Mythological kings

For the Shakespearean character, see Laertes (Hamlet).

In Greek mythology, Laërtes (Greek: Λαέρτης) was the son of Arcesius and Chalcomedusa. He was father of Odysseus (who was thus called Λαερτιάδης) and Ctimene by his wife Anticlea, daughter of the thief Autolycus. Laërtes was an Argonaut and participated in the hunt for the Calydonian Boar. Laërtes' title was King of the Cephallenians, which he presumably inherited from his father Arcesius and grandfather Cephalus. His realm included Ithaca and surrounding islands, and perhaps the neighboring part of the mainland.

Another version of the story says that he was not Odysseus' real father, and that Sisyphus, who had seduced Anticlea, was.^[1]

After Odysseus and Telemachus routed the suitors that had been threatening his wife, Penelope, some of the suitors' surviving relatives confronted them. Athena infused vigor into Laértes, so he could help Odysseus by killing Eupeithes, father of Antinous. In Robert Fitzgerald's translation of the Odyssey, Odysseus refers to him as King Allwoes.^[2]