Laertes is Odysseus’s father, Anticleia’s husband, and Penelope’s father-in-law. Laertes is faithful to his wife Anticleia because he is afraid of her. Laertes lets Odysseus rule the island and, after his disappearance and Anticleia’s death, Laertes takes up a quiet life as a farmer (possibly because he has gone a little crazy). It is Laertes’s shroud that Penelope weaves in order to trick the Suitors.