Laertes

• = Λαέρτης, the father of Ulysses, Att. ap. Non. 314, 20 (Trag. Rel. v. 131 Rib.); Cic. de Sen. 15, 54; Ov. H. 1, 113.—
• II Hence,
• • A Lāërtĭus, a, um, adj., of or belonging to Laertes, Laertian: regna, i.e. Ithaca, Verg. A. 3, 272: heros, i.e. Ulysses, Ov. M. 13, 124; id. Tr. 5, 5, 3: proles, Verg. Cul. 326.—
  • B Lāërtĭădes, ae, m., = Λαερτιάδης, a male descendant of Laertes: his son Ulysses, Att. ap. App. de Deo Socr. c. 24 (Trag. Rel. v. 524 Rib.); Hor. C. 1, 15, 21; id. S. 2, 5, 59; Ov. M. 13, 48.

(Λαέρτης), a son of Acrisius and Chalcomedusa, and husband of Anticleia, by whom he became the father of Odysseus and Ctimene. (Hom. Od. 4.755, 11.85, 15.362, 16.118; Eustath. ad Hom. p. 1791.) It should, however, be remembered that, according to others, Odysseus was the son of Sisyphus. (Hyg. Fab. 201; Schol. ad Soph. Philoct. 417.) In his youth Laertes had conquered Nericum, a coast town in Cephalenia (Hom. Od. 24.376), and he is also said to have taken part in the Calydonian hunt, and in the expedition of the Argonauts. (Hyg. Fab. 173; Apollod. 1.9. 16.) At the time when Odysseus returned from Troy, Laertes lived in rural retirement, and was occupied with agricultural pursuits, and an old female slave attended to his wants (Od. 1.189); but, after the departure of Telemachus, he was so overpowered by his grief, that he gave up his rustic pursuits. (Od. 16.138.) After the murder of the suitors, Odysseus visited him, and led him back to his house, and Athena made him young again, so that soon after he was able to take part in the fight against the approaching Ithacans. (Od. 24.204-370, 497.) [L.S]

(Λαέρτης). King of Ithaca, son of Acrisius, husband of Anticlea, and father of Odysseus, who is hence called Laertiades. Some writers call Odysseus the son of Sisyphus. (See Anticlea.) Laertes took part in the Calydonian hunt, and in the expedition of the Argonauts. He was still alive when Odysseus returned to Ithaca, after the fall of Troy. See Odysseus.

City of Cilicia Aspera or Pamphylia, almost certainly at a site high up on the mountain of Cebelireş, 17 km E of Alânya and ca. 750 m above sea level. The 40 inscriptions found on the spot do not name the city, but the position agrees reasonably well with the location of Laertes in the Stadiasmus (207) as 100 stades from Korakesion (Alânya), and Alexander Polyistor ap. Steph. Byz. s.v. speaks of a mountain and city of Laertes. Strabo (669: the passage is confused) also places Laertes E of Korakesion. The coinage is Imperial only, of the 2d and 3d c., but the city is not mentioned either in Hierokles or in the Notitae.

The city lay on a shoulder of the mountain at the foot of the summit peak, which rises some 600 m higher. It is approached by a gully from the SE; this route is defended by two spaced towers, and by a stretch of wall where it reaches the city. The remainder of the site seems never to have had a fortification wall, but at the SE corner there is a good-sized fortress, below which is an underground building consisting of three vaulted passages, perhaps a storehouse. On the N side of the site are remains of a long paved street originally lined with numerous statues, many of Roman emperors. On the S side of this street stood a building approached by steps, possibly a council house; here also were numerous statues. Farther W is an open space, perhaps an agora, bordered by a long pavement; at the N end of this is an exedra and at the S end a large building with an apse at its W end, comprising a complex of halls. This part of the site is covered with ruins of houses and other buildings. The main necropolis is on the mountain slope S of the city.

G. E. Bean & T. B. Mitford,AnatSt 12 (1962) 194-206; id., Journeys in Rough Cilicia 1964-1968 (1970) 94-105.

• in the Argo: Apollod. 1.9.17
• father of Odysseus: Apollod. 3.10.7, Apollod. E.3.11
• Penelope weaves the shroud of: Apollod. 3.1.1