Odysseus: Son Of Laertes And Anticleia

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Odysseus was the son of Laertes and Anticleia, the daughter of Autolycus and Parnassus. However, many people later believed that he was the son of Sisyphus, the king of Ephyra which is now known as Corinth. This was due to the fact that Anticleia was enticed by Sisyphus a little before she married: “But just before her marriage to Laertes, Anticleia had been seduced by Sisyphus, the king of Corinth. Some Greeks believed that Sisyphus was Ulysses’s father” (Shelmerdine). Not much is known about Odysseus’s family besides that he is the great-grandson of the Olympian god Hermes on his mother’s side. Odysseus was married to Penelope, the daughter of Icarius, the king of Sparta, with whom he became the father of Telemachus. Odysseus loved his wife…show more content…
However, he was very skilled with a bow and arrow as stated at the end of the Odyssey. After returning from fighting in the war, Odysseus dressed as an old beggar to be able to see what has happened in Ithaca without being recognized. He heard that Penelope was being forced to remarry by a number of suitors and was going to give her hand in marriage to whoever could string Odysseus’s bow and shoot an arrow though twelve axe heads. None of the suitors were able to accomplish this task, so Odysseus, dressed as a beggar, asked if he could try: “The old beggar somehow looked different as he stroked the wood and in one swift movement strung the bow. He plucked the string to make a single note like the sound of a lyre, then took an arrow, notched it, and pulled it back. It sailed clean through all twelve handles and lodged in the far wall as the suitors looked on in amazement” (Freeman 265). This quotation shows how easily Odysseus was able to accomplish this task as opposed to the other suitors. Odysseus was also very good at verbal confrontation. He was able to persuade others to see things his way and could solve problems verbally, not just
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