Editing Laertes (father of Odysseus) (section)

== Mythology ==
[[File:Arte romana, frammento di sarcofago con ulisse e laerte, 150 dc ca., da roma (museo barracco).jpg|thumb|Fragment of a Roman sarcophagus with Odysseus and Laertes, 150s AD, Museo Barracco.]]

Laertes stays away from Odysseus' home while Odysseus is gone. He keeps to himself on his farm, overcome with grief over Odysseus' absence and alone after his wife, Anticleia, died from grief herself. Odysseus finally comes to see Laertes after he has killed all the suitors competing for Penelope. He finds his father spading a plant, looking old and tired and filled with sadness. Odysseus keeps his identity to himself at first, identifying himself only as Quarrelman, only son of King Allwoes (in the [[Fitzgerald translation of Homer]]),<ref>{{cite book |translator=Robert Fitzgerald |author=Homer |title=The Odyssey: The Fitzgerald Translation |year=1998 |publisher=Macmillan |pages=lx |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bafQVqR6O5kC&q=%22allwoes%22+laertes&pg=PR60 |isbn=9781466801479 |access-date=2020-11-01 |archive-date=2021-09-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210930164938/https://books.google.com/books?id=bafQVqR6O5kC&q=%22allwoes%22+laertes&pg=PR60 |url-status=live }}</ref> but when he sees how disappointed Laertes is to learn that this "stranger" has no news of his son, Odysseus reveals himself, and proves his identity by reciting all the trees he received from Laertes when he was a boy. This emphasis on the land of Ithaca itself perhaps signifies that Odysseus has finally reconnected with his homeland, and his journey is over.<ref>Homer.  ''Odyssey.''  Trans. Stanley Lombardo.  Canada: Hackett Publishing Company, Inc., 2000.  Print.</ref>

Laertes had trained Odysseus in [[husbandry]]. After their reunion, the two of them go to Odysseus' home to fend off the families of the dead suitors. [[Athena]] infuses vigour into Laertes, so he can help Odysseus. He kills [[Eupeithes]], father of [[Antinous son of Eupeithes|Antinous]].<ref>Homer, ''Odyssey'' 24; Ovid, ''Metamorphoses'' 8.315</ref> Three years after Odysseus' return, Laertes died.<ref>[[Dictys Cretensis]], 6.6</ref>