Characteristics Of Odysseus

Although Odysseus is one of the most well known greek heros in the world, he is also very controversial among the people as well. In the book, “The Odyssey” written by Homer, Odysseus made some choices that makes the readers question his role as a leader. In “The Odyssey”, it tells the story about Odysseus’ long journey home from the Trojan War. Along the way, Odyssey has extended his times away from home by making unintelligent decisions that led him to encounter one disaster after another. Although Odysseus has some positive attributes, he is a poor leader for the following reasons: he is too cocky and overconfident, he make careless decision, and finally, he is very selfish.

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

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.

Do you know anyone who wants to fight for ten years? One man was willing. He was a determined man who was willing to face a lot of challenges to return home. He was the great Odysseus. A hero is a person who is loyal,determined, and brave. Heroes are role models that anyone should look up to. Also, they will sacrifice themselves for something they think is important. Heroes are favored by others. Odysseus is an epic hero from Ithaca and has a wife named Penelope and a son named Telemachus. Odysseus was a Greek soldier and fought in a ten-year war called the Trojan War, which was fought outside the walls of a great city called Troy, and he was trying to get home for ten years. Throughout Odysseus’ journey, he shows many heroic and flawed traits. Although he had many flaws, he is a hero.

He is not a good leader because he does not know what to do in a crisis, and he does not know how to control is men. Odysseus does not know what to do in a crisis: “I'd never spare you in fear of Zeus hatred, you or your comrades here, unless I had and urge” (Homer 9.312-313). Odysseus is not a good leader because he does not know what to do in a crisis, as shown, he always relies on the gods to save him. He expected the cyclops to spare him because the gods. He does not know what to do without the gods, and by himself he could not get out of a bad situation. The gods are the ones that are good in a crisis because they are the ones that save him. Odysseus can not control his men because they do not trust him: “Now this Aeolus loads him down with treasure. Favoritism, friend to friend! Hurry, let’s see what loot is in the sack, how much gold and silver. Break it open now!” (Homer 10.50-54). Odysseus men do not trust him enough, because they thought that he had treasures and he was not sharing it with them. So when they were looking for treasures they found a sack and opened it. It turns out that it was a sack of wind, and it sent them back to the island of Aeolia. If Odysseus was able to control his men, then they would not have opened the bag of wind. Another quote that also proves this point is when his men killed the cattle of the sun god: “Listen to me, my comrades, brothers in hardship. All ways dying are hateful to us poor

Odysseus Can be a good leader because he gets his crew out of some bad situations, To start off Odysseus got his crew out of the cyclops’s cave. “So, we seized our stake with its fiery tip and bored it round and round in the giant's eye” (9.435). This quote shows how Odysseus use a stick (more like a pole) and stuck it in the fire and when the cyclops fell asleep Odysseus took the stick and jabbed it into the giant's eye and escaped with most of his crew. Another way that Odysseus can be a good leader is that he got his crew out of Circe’s palace, even after she turned all of the crew into pigs. “Flinging open the pens, drove forth my men, who looked like full-grown swine” (10.429). This quote is showing that Circe is letting Odysseus’s crew out of the pen and releasing them, but in exchange Odysseus would have to sleep with Circe and stay

Being a good leader can take time and effort and although mistakes are involved one must keep going. Odysseus went through the struggle of becoming a good leader throughout his journey but he showed his good leadership through his thought out plans, quick decision making, and compassion towards his crew. The first way Odysseus showed his good leadership was with his well thought out plans. In book IX, line 377-393 Odysseus decided to get the cyclops drunk. He decides that if the cyclops is drunk and not in the right state of mind it will help with the rest of his plan. He wants the cyclops to be weak so when he stabs him, he will have a lessening reaction. Also in book IX, lines 397-398 Odysseus lies about his name. This may seem silly but when Odysseus and his men stab him in the eye he screams out to the other cyclops.

After reading about Odysseus in the first part of The Odyssey he may seem like a good leader. Nobody had thought that deeper in the epic Odysseus’ actions made him turn out to be a bad leader. Homer’s epic The Odyssey is about how Odysseus and his men are journeying back home to Ithaca from the Trojan War. He encountered many obstacles along his journey that cost him the lives of his men. Odysseus faced atrocious monsters, foxy nymphs, and gods out for revenge. The journey that he completed tested his skills not only as leader, but as a human too. Odysseus proves himself to be a bad leader due to him being deceitful, oppressive, and dramatic.

Christopher Reeve once said, “A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.” The great epic, The Odyssey by Homer reveals the courageous, daring life of Odysseus, as he travels from his victory in Troy to his home in Ithaca. Throughout the journey, Odysseus reveals his heroic traits of intelligence, skill, and resourcefulness.

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.

The Odyssey is a great example of heroes and the traits they possess. One such hero in the book is named Odysseus. A man who has been away from his home in Ithaca for 20 years. Throughout his adventures, he has been through many dangerous obstacles in the way of him and his crew, which have even taken the lives of many of his men as well. The traits that make Odysseus a hero are courage, intelligence, and confidence.

The first reason I believe Odysseus is not a leader is because, he is selfish. To be selfish means to think about yourself and not other people. This trait is shown when Odysseus says, “But as I sent them toward Scylla, I told them nothing as they could do nothing” ( Homer 1135). This means that Odysseus kept the information Circe told him about Scylla to himself, and told his crew nothing even though he knew that she would kill most of them. If I was part of the crew I would have liked to know this information. Odysseus let a lot of his team die while he survived. Another reason he is selfish is because, in the passage it says, “They tied me up, then plumb amid ships, back to the mast, lashed to the mast, and took themselves again to rowing” (Homer 1134).

Different people have different thoughts of being a hero. Where if it’s being intelligent, full of courage and bravery or if it encounters dedications and loyalty. The quantities and characteristics that make up a hero to me is that they need to have courage and bravery where they would protect their people from any future trouble, also I believe a true hero should be selfless and be able to sacrifice their own life for others. Odysseus was classed as a legendary ‘hero’ in Greek mythology, however many people have questioned if Odysseus really was a hero. Odysseus displayed characteristics from both hero and human, he was full of courage and strength where he challenges to return home to Ithaca and successfully overcome difficult situations