Laertes and Anticlea were the parents of Odysseus and his sister Ctimene. Anticlea died of grief during Odysseus's long absence, and he met her shade in the underworld.
Arcesius was the father of Laertes and grandfather of Odysseus. In the Odyssey, this lineage from Arcesius through Laertes to Odysseus and Telemachus represents four generations defending Ithaca together.
Laertes was king of Ithaca before his son Odysseus. In his old age he retired to a farm on the island, where Odysseus found him tending his orchard upon his return from Troy.
Laertes, father of Odysseus, sailed with the Argonauts in his youth. His participation linked the pre-Trojan War generation of heroes to the later expedition through his famous son.
Laertes hunted the Calydonian Boar in his youth, one of the heroic exploits that preceded his more famous son Odysseus's adventures.
Laertes purchased the young Eumaeus from Phoenician traders who had kidnapped him from the island of Syrie. Laertes' wife Anticleia raised Eumaeus alongside their own daughter Ctimene in the household on Ithaca.
Laertes purchased Eurycleia as a young woman for twenty oxen and honored her in his household. She served as the most trusted nurse and senior servant of Laertes' family on Ithaca for decades.
Penelope wove a burial shroud for her father-in-law Laertes as her famous stratagem, weaving by day and unraveling by night for three years to delay choosing a new husband.
Telemachus fought alongside his grandfather Laertes in the final battle of the Odyssey, when the kin of the slain suitors attacked. Three generations of Odysseus's house stood together in defense of their home.
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