Laertes (father of Odysseus)

Odysseus meets his father Laertes on his return to Ithaca (Theodoor van Thulden, 1600)

In Greek mythology, Laertes (/leɪˈɜːrtiːz/; Ancient Greek: Λαέρτης, romanized: Laértēs Greek pronunciation: [laː.ér.tɛːs]; also spelled Laërtes) was the king of the Cephallenians, an ethnic group who lived both on the Ionian Islands and on the mainland.[1] He presumably inherited the kingdom from his father Arcesius and grandfather Cephalus. His realm included Ithaca and surrounding islands, and perhaps even the neighboring part of the mainland of other Greek city-states. Laertes was also an Argonaut,[2] and a participant in the hunt for the Calydonian Boar.[3]

  1. ^ Entry "Κεφαλλῆνες" Archived 2021-06-24 at the Wayback Machine in Homeric Dictionary by Georg Autenrieth.
  2. ^ Diodorus Siculus, 4.48.5; Apollodorus, 1.9.16
  3. ^ Hyginus, Fabulae 173