Essay On Odysseus A Good Leader

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

One quality that establishes Odysseus’s leadership is that his men trust and believes in him. This is demonstrated when Telemachus stands watching as his father take a beating from Antinous, but as his father had wished, he keeps his feelings internalized, “Telemachus, after the blow his father bore, sat still without a tear, though his heart felt the blow. Slowly he shook his head from side to side, containing murderous thoughts” (ln 1053-1057). Had Odysseus been a bad leader, his reputation among his servants would have been bad. If the family servants think of Odysseus in a negative way, they would have told stories to Telemachus about Odysseus’s infamy. As a result, when Odysseus finally comes home to Ithaca and informs his son about his plot for revenge, Telemachus would possibly not have followed his father’s instructions due to doubt and mistrust. However, Telemachus obeys his father’s wishes because of the good things he has heard from his mother and servants. Moreover, while being eaten by Scylla’s heads, Odysseus’s men cries out for help, “Voices came down to me in anguish, calling my name for the last time” (ln 650-651). Since Odysseus’s men cried out to Odysseus for help, it shows that they rely on Odysseus. If Odysseus was a poor leader, his men would have accepted their

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 novel, Odysseus shows leadership as he sails over the oceans with his crew. For example, the crew must pass the massive whirlpool Charybdis and the six-headed monster Scylla. The monster will eat six men per ship. Odysseus knows that six men will die if they pass too close to Scylla, or Charybdis will devour the whole ship and crew. Odysseus, the leader of the crew, makes a decision that will benefit his crews mission. He motivates his men by assuring “this danger is no worse than what we faced” before (12:227). His leadership creates a courageous atmosphere that triumphs the fear in the hearts of his men. His men row on, despite the fear, following his orders, and only lost the six men they had to lose to pass this section of road on the pathway to home. Another example of strong leadership is the exploration of the cave of the cyclops Polyphemus. The cyclops is an unknown population,

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

Not only was he the things described, but he was also a very boastful man, which isn’t a very good characteristic for a leader like himself. This shows that Odysseus was a good leader at times and he was a bad leader too, which

At the end of The Cyclops, Odysseus and his men escape the Cyclops cave and they are so close to making it back to the ship, but then Odysseus shouts, “Cyclops if ever mortal man inquire how you were put to shame and blinded, tell him Odysseus, raider of cities, took your eye.” (Homer 996). Odysseus and his men almost make it out without the Cyclops knowing who they are and Odysseus ruins it all because he wants to be noticed. Although Odysseus makes it out of the cave, he loses all of his men during the process. Odysseus’s pride is what causes the downfall of his men. This proves he is a lousy leader because he does not think of the danger he put himself or his men in by saying this so he just made a high risk and endangers his men. “Leaders also use social influence to inspire others to achieve a common goal.” (Comstock). Odysseus has a negative social influence on the situation with the Cyclops because he tells the Cyclops his name which then puts him and his men all in danger, just because he wants credit. This clearly proves Odysseus is a terrible leader. As a result, Odysseus appears to be an awful leader because he causes problems and only thinks about

Although, Odysseus has positive traits that contribute to his status as a god hero, he often times display bad traits, but that does not mean he is a bad leader. Odysseus lacked to be a good leader when him and his men were on the way to Ithaca. He failed to tell them what was going on when they arrived and failed to tell them how long they were staying. His men relied on him to prepare them on what was going to happen during their journey. His men expected Odysseus to make decisions for his crew because he was their leader. Odysseus is arrogant and thinks he outsmarts everybody he knows. When Odysseus gets advice from Circe about Scylla, telling Odysseus not to fight with Scylla, Odysseus does not listen. Scylla was inmortal and could not

Well known actor Christopher Reeve mentioned, “A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.” Christopher explained that heroes can be just normal people that do extraordinary things. Odysseus did some superior deeds, but he wasn’t consistent with his deeds. He made plenty of poor decisions that cost not just himself but his crewmen. These are the reasons why Odysseus was a poor leader because of his arrogant and forgetful actions.

Throughout the course of the Odyssey, Odysseus and his men find themselves facing the most difficult of challenges. Odysseus will be classified as a bad leader or not based on how he acted during these challenges. Once inspecting Odysseus' decisions and thought process throughout his journeys, he is an overall bad leader. Some of his bad leadership moments are when Odysseus refuses to leave the cave of the cyclops, not communicating with his men about the contents of the bag from Aeolus, and not warning his men about the danger of eating Helios' cattle. All of these situations resulted in the death of many soldiers and could have been prevented by Odysseus.

Odysseus had to think for everyone on board and not just his wants for the dessert, so he decided to take the men onto the ship and sail away as fast as they could, no matter what his men said or did. Odysseus was a great leader because he thought things through for his men and himself. If he wouldn’t have, he and his men would have died at any one of their pit stops along the

An anonymous author wrote, "Leadership is not a position or title, it is action and example. " This idea that leadership is not a title, but earned by actions and examples can be directly applied to Odysseus' poor leadership and destruction of his crew. Odysseus claimed to be an influential leader but his actions showed otherwise when he faced Scylla and was tempted by the Cattle of the Sun God. Odysseus was not a strong leader and ultimately contributed to the destruction of his own men because Odysseus chose to sacrifice his own crew rather than himself and Odysseus didn’t take responsibility for his actions that were detrimental to his crew.

A great question to ask is what does it take to display good leadership. What is a good leader dependant on? Size? Strength? A good leader mostly depends on attitude and determination. A good leader can come in any shape or size, but it depends on the determination and the level of courage. Odysseus did not show leadership in The Odyssey.

Odysseus is a good leader because he is wise. Throughout the story, Odysseus's wise decisions help him and most of his comrades escape death. While Odysseus is trapped in a cave with his men and a man-eating cyclops, When Odysseus is asked his name by the cyclops, Odysseus says “Nobody -- that's my name” (IX. 413). Later on, this proves to be a wise decision because the cyclops cannot identify who attacked him. This decision by Odysseus saved him and his men from imminent death.

The first attribute that makes Odysseus a great leader is the previously mentioned resolve. It is the key for motivating team members, and producing results. Without “solid faith in [their] ideals” (Gavril qtd. in Gleeson 7), no leader can accomplish their goals. Only when both leader and followers believe in the cause, can the group take action. Odysseus has this steadfast determination. He never strayed from his mission of bringing everyone home, even “though he find a house of gold” (Homer 37). Many times his will was challenged when he was offered a safe, happy place to live, but he did not succumb to those temptations. He