# Laertes — The Odyssey character guide

> Laertes in The Odyssey by Homer.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Son of Laertes, old Laertes, the sage Laertes, Old Laertes

**First appearance:** 0001-the-odyssey

## Snapshot

Ulysses' aged father, withdrawn from Ithaca's politics into grief and orchard work, whose diminished state measures how long the hero has been away.

## Who they are

Once a king, Laertes now lives in seclusion, tending his land while his son is presumed lost and his household is overrun by suitors. His slow withdrawal is a quiet indictment of the years Ulysses has spent wandering, and the reunion the poem withholds for so long gains its emotional force from how far this old man has fallen. He matters less as an actor than as a mirror: what Ithaca becomes without its king.

## Relationships

### [Ulysses](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_odyssey_se/characters/ulysses)

_family_

Laertes is the aged father of Ulysses, and their reunion is a deeply emotional moment of recognition and love.

### [Ulysses](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_odyssey_se/characters/ulysses)

_family_

Laertes is the aged father of Ulysses, and their reunion is a deeply emotional moment of recognition and love.

### [Ulysses](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_odyssey_se/characters/ulysses)

_family_

Laertes is the aged father of Ulysses, and their reunion is a deeply emotional moment of recognition and love.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_odyssey_se/characters/laertes
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_odyssey_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_odyssey_se/characters