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Comparing The Zeus And Odin 's Similar Qualities Show Their Lack Of Leadership Abilities

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Brandon Bonaby
Professor Stefanie Ketley
INDS-1059-01
05 August 2014
How both Zeus and Odin’s similar qualities Show their lack of leadership abilities
There are many similarities and differences between Greek and Norse mythology, however none can be seen any bigger than those between the Greek God Zeus and the Norse God Odin. Both are depicted as strong bearded men of authority, who reign over their realm without equal and above all else is seen as the strongest of all the Gods in their respective mythology. However they were both not without fault as leaders but even so, followers of these two mythologies all praised , listened and sacrificed to both Zeus and Odin without hesitation and sometimes even if it meant their immediate death. …show more content…

There is no greater case of Zeus’ poor leadership than the rape of the innocent Europe who ended up bearing three of Zeus children.
Odin on the other hand even though more discreet than Zeus did his devious deeds on the sly and in ways that others could not see. One such occasion would be in the Eddic peom Vafþrúðnismál when Odin disguised himself as an old man and asked the giant Vafthruthnir to a game to test who is the wisest, with the loser having to offer up their head. Ultimately to beat the giant Odin asked the question "What did Odin say in Baldur 's ear before he was borne upon the pyre?”. Only Odin would know the answer to this question and so here we see Odin actually cheated in order to gain a victory over the giant rather than admit defeat. For a leader of Odin’s statue to stoop as low as to cheat is a foul trait for any leader to emulate. In addition to this the story of the Mead of the Scalds is another important way that Odin’s devious ways were similar to Zeus’. In the story Odin facilitated the death of nine slaves, manipulated an unsuspecting Giant named Baugi, “won Gunnloth’s heart” using her for three nights then ultimately stealing the mead away from her through deception and returning to Aesir to brag ( Mortensen ,125-126). These various actions from a leader who is supposed to be “wise” seem very hypocritical, in the sense that a wise leader shouldn’t have to go to such length of deceit and manipulation to

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