from Phillip

In doing some research on Laertes, I was surprised to discover that he is not the only character named Laertes to appear in a major literary work. In fact, I learned that Laertes is named after the father of Odysseus. I looked into The Odyssey's Laertes in order to make a comparison between the two and see if there was anything I could use to develop him.

The first comparison I noticed was how protective both of them are of the women in their lives. Laertes first moments in the play are cautioning Ophelia to stay away from Hamlet in order to preserve her chastity. Meanwhile, while Odysseus was away on his journey, it was his father Laertes who helped Odysseus' wife Penelope deter would-be suitors. Oh, and by "deter," I mean he killed them all. So apart from sharing the same name, the Laertes that exists in Hamlet also shares the extreme loyalty to his family as his Greek namesake. Just as Penelope's suitors were killed by Odysseus' father, Laertes is similarly quick to take to violence to defend Ophelia's purity, and later her death.