Farewell

My wife, I do not think that all of the Achaeans who wear fancy shin guards will return from Troy safe and unhurt.

This looks odd. Odysseus is in charge of the house. He is the lord (Kyrios) of the house, not his father Laërtes, who appears to be still alive. Odysseus takes care for his parents in his halls. Odysseus was still a very young man. Telemachos, his only son was just a baby at that time. There is an explanation for this situation in classical times in Athens that can explain this situation:

Odyssey Book 18 line 246-247 Barry B Powell
Odyssey Book 18 line 251-254 Barry B Powell
Wikipedia Oikos (Men)

Addressing the suitors Penelope tells them about what Odysseus said to her before he left to Troy:

Odysseus is preparing his wife for the consequence, that he and his men might not return home from Troy. And a safe voyage home is not guaranteed either.

I don't know if some god will save me, or whether I will be cut off there in Troy. So take charge of everything here. Remember my father and my mother in the halls, just as now -and still more when I am gone.

A man was the head of the household. The kyrios was responsible for representing the interests of his oikos to the wider polis and providing legal protection to the women and minors with whom he shared his household. Initially the kyrios of an oikos would have been the husband and father of offspring. However, when any legitimate sons reached adulthood the role of kyrios could, in many instances, be transferred from the father to the next male generation. When a son was given his portion of the inheritance, either before or after his father had died, he was said to have formed a new oikos. Therefore, new oikoi were formed every generation and would continue to be perpetuated through marriage and childbirth.