Laertes - Definition and Overview

In Greek mythology, Laërtês was the son of Arcesius and father of Odysseus with Anticlea. He was an Argonaut and participated in the hunt for the Calydonian Boar.

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 transliteration of The Odyssey, Odysseus refers to him as King Allwoes.

Homer, Odyssey XXIV; Ovid, Metamorphoses VIII, 315.

Laertes is also a character in William Shakespeare's play, Hamlet.