A Good Leader: Odysseus and Gilgamesh

Odysseus was a great leader and hero throughout the story in many examples as I have listed below. My first example is when Odysseus was able to make a spear when he was in Polyphemus's cave. He then took the spear and drove it through the eye of the beast, blinding him. The cyclops then moved the boulder and the men escaped by hiding under sheep.This example shows that O. is a hero because he is daring. If the cyclops was to find any of them or he had missed and woken him then this surely would have meant death for them. The second reason is in book twelve when O. must pass the sirens. To do so he slabs beeswax on the ears of his shipmates. This will make it so them can not be lured into the captivity of the sirens. O. then lashes himself

In the epic poem The Odyssey written by Homer, Odysseus is a good leader because his men put their faith and loyalty in him and Odysseus can use his wits to get his men out of deadly crises.

Throughout The Odyssey, Odysseus has shown various qualities of a weak leader. For one, Odysseus taunts Polyphemus unnecessarily. This leads him and his men being “cursed” to never return home or to kill all of Odysseus’s men. This shows Odysseus is a bad leader because he is excessively prideful and egotistical. He often lets those traits make decisions for him, and this causes poor fortune for him and his men. Another example of Odysseus being a bad leader is when he accepts the fate of his men instead of trying to find a loophole that would save them. Along with his crew’s fate, his decision to listen to the sirens was also a foolish decision. There could have been a lot of time saved if his men were not preoccupied with keeping Odysseus

Throughout the entire book Odysseus shows that he as an amazing leader. “ Nine whole days we sailed, nine nights, nonstop”- Odysseus, (P. 231, L. 32.) Odysseus leads his crew to new lands always getting

Odysseus should not be considered a good leader because he doesn’t care about his crew and lets them die for his mistakes. When Odysseus and his crew rob the Cyclops of many items, a crew member suggests,“Why not take these cheeses, get them stowed, come back, throw open all the pens, and make a run for it” (149-151). They get a lot of treasure from the Cyclops and have the opportunity to leave with the treasure without getting caught. Though, Odysseus’ pride and curiosity tells him,“Ah, how sound that was! Yet I refused. I wished to see the cave man, what he had to offer- no pretty sight, it turned out, for my friends” (153-156). A good leader would have thought about what the repercussions of his actions may lead to, but Odysseus didn’t seem to have this thought process as a leader. Deciding the do only what he wanted, without consulting his crew, tells them to see the Cyclops. It is a very dangerous move because it could get the crew killed and only a bad leader would guide their crew straight to their death. Since it says “no pretty sight…for my friends”, we can assume something bad happened to Odysseus’s crew. Anything that happened was the effect of Odysseus’s inability to care for his crew and to stop playing with their lives like pawns. Thus, since the reason behind the loss of Odysseus’s crew members was Odysseus’s fault and his carelessness, we can conclude that he is a bad leader who doesn’t look

After arriving in the land of the lotus eaters, Odysseus reveals his arrogance to both his crew and Polyphemus. As Odysseus shouted to Polyphemus, “I am Odysseus, son of Laertes, known to the world for every kind of craft - my fame has reached the skies” (212) instead, of showing his crew he is a magnificent leader he shows to be a horrible one. Odysseus

Odysseus was an effective leader for many reasons. one example was when Odyssey use his mind to get his men’s out of hades. one example was when he help his mans get to safety. he was an Effective leaders and in this part of the story,Odysseus men were scared of of the Hades, and they did not think Odysseus would make it back,so he told them not to worry, i will make it back and he tells them to leave if he doesn’t make it back to the ship. another example was when Odysseus and his men were stock in cave with the one eye monster.

“Leaders instill in their people a hope for success and a belief in themselves. Positive leaders empower people to accomplish their goals.” One of the greatest facets that any person can possess is leadership, the ability to create change for the better. Across the world, many believe Odysseus is one of the most iconic representations of what a hero should be, but the question of whether or not he was a good leader will always be open to interpretation. Every single person in the world has a unique style and strategy in order to efficiently follow through his or her plan and attain his or her set goal. Odysseus’s leadership style and strategy often raise inquiries of whether or not it was effective.

When Odysseus was being a caring leader he wasn’t making his men do anything that he wouldn’t have done himself, so this shows that he wasn’t putting himself before an of his men who were doing good things for him. Along with that, Odysseus volunteered to do all of the “dirty work” so his men wouldn’t have to, which was nice for his men. While Odysseus was a good leader at times, he also had his downs as a leader. After Odysseus and his men made their great escape, they started taunting the Cyclops, which then came back for revenge, from Zeus, on his journey home. He and his men also took advantage of the hospitality that the Cyclops gave him and used it for their plan.

Built-in qualities such as intelligence, good looks, height and so on are not necessary to become a good leader. Anyone can cultivate the proper leadership qualities. In order to excel in their leadership a good leader must possess qualities such as self awareness, courage, confidence, innovation, fairness, openness, and dedication among others. Odysseus in The Odyssey, and Samuel, Saul and David in the Books of Samuel, display these characters. However, at some occasions they fail to do so. That is to say, leaders, being it great or small, chosen by God or people, are not completely perfect.

Odysseus will endanger his crew to brag to the enemy when he thinks the battle is over, but it truly is not, “...tell him Odysseus, raider of cities, took your eye: Laertes’ son, whose home on Ithaca!”[Page 669; Line 503-505] After Odysseus, escapes the Cyclops’ home he tells this son of a gods his name and his homeland. This leads to him getting cursed, “...grant that Odysseus, raider of cities, never see his home again.”[Page 670; Line 528-530] This shows how Odysseus got cocky and got cursed for it, basically sealing the fate of his crew to perish on their journey home. Odysseus doesn’t care if he’s actions affect his crew, he would rather jeopardize his journey to only get cursed by the person he bragged to. He is the opposite of a good leader instead of leaving with the victory he lost due to how arrogant he

Odysseus was a really good leader for many reasons.The first example or reason is that Odysseus wants to go home safe with his crew.

Odysseus was a strong leader for many reasons, one of those reasons was because he was a good and quick thinker. When his crew and himself were stuck in the cyclops' cave, Odysseus was able to think up a plan to escape. He used what they had around them and crafted a spear in which he used to stab the cyclops' eye, this lead to his crew being able to escape. All in all, with the evidence of Odysseus thinking of a plan to escape from the cyclops, this shows that he is a good thinker, this supports that Odysseus is a strong leader.

In The Odyssey by Homer, Odysseus demonstrates three important traits of leadership; creativity, courage, and intelligence. For example, Odysseus displayed creativity in “The Cyclops”. Odysseus used his creativity to save his men from Polyphemus, a terrible cyclops, by coming up with the idea to blind Polyphemus with a stake, to escape his cave. Without careful planning and creative thinking, Odysseus would not have been able to lead his men to safety and they all would have died as prisoners of Polyphemus. Additionally, Odysseus displayed his courage in “The Land of the Dead”.

In the Odyssey, Odysseus was a very effective leader in many ways. One example is when Odysseus protects one of his crew members after he was turned into a pig.The crew was very hungry, and was on Circe's island. Some members went off to find food, and one came back with a pig. He said that they couldn't eat this pig because it was his friend, and that Circe turned him into a pig. Odysseus showed leadership by telling his crew to wait, and to let him go and see if he is telling the truth. Odysseus He had to sacrifice himself to Circe, so she could change his men back to humans. Odysseus was brave, and strong. He climbed up the mountains, and gave himself to Circe, but the whole time was thinking about his wife, Penelope. Another example is