Leadership appears multiple times throughout the story and is a common theme throughout. One of the most important times leadership was shown was when they had been captured by the cyclops near the beginning when they wanted help getting home and Odysseus had lead his men with courage even though they were terrified. “Now by the gods, I drove my big hand spike deep in the embers, charring it again, and cheered my men along with battle talk to keep their courage up:no quitting now.” (p# 904) This particular quote is quite important because the men needed to do this to escape, but if they were to fail they would most definitely die. They were scared and Odysseus is the one who decided to keep their courage up. In modern times we rely on leaders but sometimes they can act foolish. It is nice to know that the king of a country was able to take such a high amount of
In The Odyssey, Odysseus portrays an important trait to the story, perseverance. His perseverance really stands out as something that he has and always will have. On his long journey home, he never gives up and just stays where he is, no matter how tempting. He always manages to push through and keep getting closer to his goal of returning home. An example of when he does this is when he is faced with the challenge of getting past Skylla and Kharybdis. He knows that either path will kill at least some of his men and possibly him, but he knows he has to keep going. "And all this time,/ in travail,
Peter Drucker said, “Effective leadership is not about making speeches or being liked; leadership is defined by results, not attributes.” Homer proves this point in The Odyssey, which is an epic poem, and the main character is Odysseus. Odysseus is on his way back from the Trojan War and everyone returns back to Ithaca beside him, he is being held against his will, by Calypso, on Ogygia. He soon will be faced with problems that come about all because of himself. Some people like Odysseus are not fit to be a leader because he is arrogant, foolish, and a liar.
When we think of leadership, what comes to mind? Is it the bold, charismatic, and passionate person who takes the group on their back? Or is it really the more quiet and realistic leader who has a compromising attitude? Most people will think of a loud and passionate person who can grab the attention of an audience. But leaders come in all shapes and sizes. Leadership is defined by dictionary.com as the ability to guide or influence others to achieve a common goal. Although the term leader is used in our everyday lives, many people mistake it for close synonyms. Not all leaders have to be the boisterous, bold, and burly people that most people think of them to be. More often than not, a leader will be the commanding one in the group. But there
Odysseus shows the characteristics of a good leader by being brave and sacrificing his life for his crew and the way to get home to his family. ''Under strange sail shall you come home, to find your own house filled with trouble: insolent men eating your livestock as they court your lady.'' This quote shows how Odysseus will stop at nothing to find his way home, He legitimately traveled through the underworld a very petrifying place to find his way home and he also had to deal with his dead crewmate and cried. This shows that he will stop at nothing to get home which is something that inspires your crew which is a very crucial part of being a leader.
Throughout the time being on this island full of cyclops, Odysseus has showed his ability to think of a well put together plan. The next way Odysseus shows he is a great leader was how quick he was to react to a situation. In book X, lines 137-146 Odysseus shows his skill of reacting quickly when they were on the island and they started getting slaughtered but Odysseus got his men out of there. There was much chaos and commotion but Odysseus figured out what he needed to do to get his men out of there quickly and still alive. He even made a quick decision to cut the rope to his own ship leaving some men behind but this in the end saved more men rather than if they had stayed trying to fight back. Also in book X, lines 287-290 Odysseus shows his skills when one of his men come running back after the other men got turned to pigs by the girl. Right as Odysseus heard of this he grabbed his bow and was about to head out. Instead of Odysseus leaving those men there and sailing away he tries to go fight
In the story “The Odyssey”, by Homer, Odysseus improves his leadership abilities from not caring about his men and being selfish to thinking for his men’s lives before his own. First, during Odysseus’ visit to the Cyclops' Cave, Odysseus wants to stay to fill his desire to “see the caveman” but because of this, many of Odysseus’ men end up being killed by the Cyclops (Homer 958). Therefore, Odysseus is selfish and thinks of his personal desire to see the cyclops over his men’s lives. A good leader would have thought about his men first and left the Cyclops’ Cave as soon as possible. Odysseus’ poor leadership is on the reasons that his journey is difficult.
When Odysseus could, he made very brave decisions to get his men out of tough situations, but, what can be easily be over looked is that Odysseus got his men into most of the bad situations they came upon. For instance, an episode of this poor leadership is when Odysseus does not adequately warn his men about abstaining from eating the cattle on Helios's island. Yes, one could argue that Odysseus did in fact warn his men, but he really did not warn them as well as he could have. Odysseus didn't even tell the men that they would die if they ate the cattle, and so they were quickly tempted into Eurylochus's plan, "Listen to me. . . all ways of dying are hateful to us poor mortals. . . but to die of hunger, starve to death- that’s worst of all. . . let's drive
Everyone is capable of being affectionate, positive, kind, and caring. But with those qualities comes pride, envy, greed, and wrath. The Odyssey is a myth formed about the absurd journey of the human, Odysseus. As a hero from the Trojan War, his mission was to bring his men back home after ten years of hardship. Little did he know, only half of his expedition was over. Odysseus faced off against the burly Laestrygonians, the atrocious Scylla, and the desperate Calypso. He had many peaks and valleys throughout his journey, solely caused by his positive and negative qualities as a leader. In the story of the “Odyssey,” the hero Odysseus embodies an ineffective and effective leader. Odysseus is strategic in navigating the obstacles he faces, however, he is selfish in his desires, and his ego prompts failure, which demonstrates to the reader the Greek
One eyed monsters, witches, sea creatures, and beautiful women all test a leaders ability to command and direct his men down the correct path that benefits all. In Homer’s epic poem,”The Odyssey”, the great leader Odysseus battles in and wins the Trojan War. Odysseus angers the gods with his hubris and as a result he will face life threatening and dangerous situations during his travels back home to Ithaca. Once returning he fights over a hundred men who are trying to take his throne. Odysseus is a good leader as seen through his perseverance, ability to think ahead, and intelligence.
In Homer’s The Odyssey, Odysseus is an archetypal hero. Odysseus presents himself as a strong leader throughout this epic poem, but the characteristic that appeared the most is his encouraging attitude towards his men. Homer states, “I cheered my men along with battle talk to keep their courage up” (Applebee et al.906). Overall, Odysseus accomplished what leaders are supposed to do and uplifted his men even
In The Odyssey, Odysseus is clearly the main character. As the main character he has many leadership roles, He is the leader of his men in the military, a leader of his son later on in the book, and lastly he is a leader to his wife as a husband. Those are the leadership roles that will be touched on in the analysis. Odysseus is a very resectable man who usually has good morals but will do extreme things to get home to save his wife from the suitors of Ithaca, and to protect his men on the journey back ( although sadly they would not make it because they angered a god after eating his cattle ). Early in the book Odysseus is introduced by recounting his journey home from the Trojan War, he is leading men back from the battle that he fought in the Illiad.
his purpose. Aeneas is then left with the duty of leaving Carthage and Dido behind, whereas Odysseus is more subject to each gods will. The idea of an inevitable and
The first half of the Aeneid is very reflective of the Odyssey so it is only fitting that Aeneas be compared to Odysseus first. Odysseus is known across greece for his intelligence and cunning wit. Odysseus uses this to gain glory on the battlefield during the trojan war and later to work his way home to his wife and his son. During Aeneas travels he tells his men “ Through all sorts of perils, through countless dangers, we are headed for Latium, where the Fates promise us a peaceful home” (page 7-8). He uses his pietas to motivate his group of refugees after the trials they faced at sea. Odysseus gave a similar speech after his encounter with Scylla, but he told
A hero can possess many qualities devotion, humility, cleverness, faithfulness, sacrifice, honor, perhaps even pride. Odysseus and Aeneas were on opposing side of the Trojan war but are both considered heroes by their people. Odysseus for penetrating the trojan city and Aeneas for delivering the Trojan people to Italy. Anyone can become a hero in any situation .