A leader should possess certain qualities such as heroism ,bravery, and courage. In the Odyssey by Homer, Odysseus proves that he possesses these qualities on his journey to return to his home in Ithaca. Although one of Odysseus’s greatest weaknesses is his pride and arrogance.
Odysseus proves to possess heroism, bravery, and courage on his journey when he and his men were trapped in the Cyclops cave. Odysseus had courage to makes a wooden stake and use it to gouge into the Cyclops eye in order to escape his island. Odysseus’ actions here “ Now Cyclops, wheezing as the pain came on him, fumbled to wrench away the great doorstone and squatted in the breach with arms thrown wide for any silly beast or man who bolted—hoping somehow I might
…show more content…
Like every great leader they each have their good qualities and they also have their flaws. Odysseus is a great leader, but from time to time his flaws shine above his other qualities. Such as his arrogance and his pride on his journey to get back to his family in Ithaca. A great example of one of Odysseus’ arrogance is “Cyclops, in the end it was no weak man’s companions you were to eat by violence and force in your hollow cave, and your evil deeds were to catch up with you, and be too strong for you, hard one, who dared to eat your own guests in your own house, so Zeus and the rest of the gods have punished you.’ (475-479). Another great example of one of Odysseus’ pride is “'So they spoke, but could not persuade the great heart in me, but once again in the anger of my heart I cried to him: "Cyclops, if any mortal man ever asks you who it was that inflicted upon your eye this shameful blinding, tell him that you were blinded by Odysseus, sacker of cities. Laertes is his father, and he makes his home on Ithaka." (500-505). His actions here show that his pride gets him and his men in trouble, right after Odysseus said this the Cyclops prayed to his father to prevent him from traveling back to
Constantly throughout the book, Odysseus shows great courage in any and every situation he is put in. We see this glimpse of courage when he fights the suitors, or when he saves his whole crew from the Cyclops. In book 9 as Odysseus and his crew are journeying through the cave of a Cyclops, Odysseus decides to make a very bold decision and blinds the Cyclops. “Hoisting high that olive stake with its stabbing point, straight ingo the monsters eye they rammed it hard.” (page 223, line 427-428) In this scene Odysseus drives a stake into his eye, in result blinding him. This was a very courageous decision because of the fact that he and his men are up against a Cyclops. At the same time, Cyclops’s are very strong and big, and Odysseus could have easily been killed . It turns out that the Cyclops is a offspring of Poseidon which put him and his crew into a lot of trouble and danger later in their journey, and if Odysseus knew that or not it was still a brave thing to do in order to save him and his crew at that moment.
One of Odysseus’ traits is bravery. One example of Odysseus’ bravery is when he injures a Cyclops that is 5 times his size, “I drew it from the coals and my four fellows/ gave me a hand, lugging it near the Cyclops/ as more than natural force nerved them, straight forward they sprinted, lifted it, and rammed it/ deep in his crater eye. 329-332” This quote shows how brave Odysseus and his men are to face the Cyclops. Odysseus was intelligent to think about this idea, but
Odysseus’ courage in the cave of the Cyclops Polyphemus banishes his crew’s trepidation and eventually gets them out of there. When Polyphemus returns to the cave after capturing them, Odysseus takes the risk to get the Cyclops’ attention so he can manipulate the one-eyed giant into drinking the potent wine. Odysseus’ bravery is catching and he inspires those with him. Once Polyphemus has passed out, Odysseus and a few other men stab the giant’s eye. This quote of Odysseus inspiring his men in the Cyclops’ cave shows how Odysseus bravery never abandons him even in a situation where it seems he cannot win: “Now, at last, I thrust our stake into a bed of embers to get it red-hot and rallied all my comrades ‘Courage—no panic, no one hang back now!’” (9. 420-422). Odysseus’ boldness ultimately leads to an escape. Without the courage that never seems to
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.
There was no doubt that Odysseus was an arrogant man. You can find this in
Odysseus’s arrogance is shown throughout the poem, but it is clearly shown during his time with a cyclops named Polyphemus. When Odysseus and his men enter a dangerous cave because of their leader’s foolish curiosity and meets Polyphemus, Odysseus says “It was our luck to come here; here we stand,/ beholden for your help, or any gifts/ you give-as custom is to honor strangers,” (256-268). Here Odysseus is practically demanding that the cyclops treat him and his men with courtesy just because he is a guest. His arrogance and pride makes them stay with the dangerous cyclops even though they had a perfect chance for escaping from cyclops at the very beginning before the conversation even started. If only they quickly left with some cheese or nothing at all, Odysseus wouldn’t have lost so many men. Because of Odysseus’s arrogance, six of his men were eaten by the cyclops. Another example when Odysseus arrogance is shown was just
Odysseus arrogantly does not think of the safety of his men and does not listen to them, only caring to annoy the Cyclops and to take the credit for blinding him. This shows his pride and his only care, to expand his legacy. By doing so, Poseidon curses his journey and makes it tougher for him to return
In the Odyssey, Odysseus is quite the legend known to people, whether you are high up in the sky with Zeus, or deep in the ocean with Poseidon, everyone knows Odysseus. In the epic poem, the Odyssey told by the one and only Homer, the brave, the godlike human, Odysseus is finding his way home after the big battle victory against the Trojans. This story is about his travels home and how he got caught up in other business. Let’s just say he stabbed Poseidon’s son, had his crew turned into pigs, faced a six-headed monster and whirlpool, and that is to say the least. He may as well be on America’s most wanted list with all the trouble he was causing. Even though Odysseus is a troublemaker, he has multiple great characteristics of a leader. Odysseus, when it comes to his crew and family, is confident, compassionate, wise, and always knows a way to get out of any problem.
For generations, heroes have always fascinated people and people have strived to achieve certain qualities of their heroes. In Homer’s The Odyssey, Odysseus is considered the hero of the story. While Odysseus does demonstrate some qualities that are not heroic, he is still defined as a hero because of his better, more heroic qualities in which he is far superior in than any other man. The qualities in which define Odysseus as a hero are courage, intelligence, and leadership.
The Legendary story of Odysseus is an epic depicting the life of a man (Odysseus) and his journey home after the Trojan War. He wants to go home to his wife and his kingdom but runs into trouble along the way. The only way for him to get out of this trouble is to enact one of his many heroic attributes: courage, nobility, a hunger for glory, and confidence.
Being brave requires massive strength of mind, body, and spirit. It is being prepared to face adversity. It allows people to face their greatest enemies without fear. Out of all of the characteristics that Odysseus portrays, bravery stands out above all. There are many cases in which this shows up in The Odyssey by Homer. Specific examples that represent Odysseus's bravery are the battle of Cicones, the events at the cyclops cave, and the events with the lotus eaters.
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, raider of cities, the son of Laertes, has many merits, but with the good always come the bad. He’s quite arrogant because he reveals his true name to the Cyclopes, Polyphemus, who curses him. Here is the why I think Odysseus is conceited,” O hear me, lord blue girdler of the islands, if I am thine indeed, and thou art father: grant that Odysseus, raider of cities, never see his home: Laertes’ son, I mean, who kept his home on Ithaca, should destiny intend that he shall see his roof again among his family in his father land, far be that day, and dark the years between. Let him lose all companions, and return under strange sail to bitter days at home.” (Line 485, Homer) As it is shown,
Throughout the many traits Odysseus has, his bravery is the most outstanding. Odysseus shows his bravery in the quote, “We lit a fire, burnt an offering, and took some cheese to eat, then sat in silence around the embers, waiting.” (Homer page 760 lines: 219-221) Odysseus was waiting for the cyclops. His bravery was shown when he broke into the cyclops home, took the cyclops food, and sat there and waited for him. Usually when you break into someone's home you do not give them an offering and take their stuff for them to find. In the next quote Odysseus shows even more bravery to go home and not fear the consequences if someone recognizes him. “... Odysseus, in his beggar disguise, finds his way to the heat of Eumclaus, his old and trusty swineherd.” (Homer page
Bravery is one of the most important and recognizable qualities in a hero, and Odysseus was very brave. When his army was turned into animals by Circe, he risked his life climbing up a mountain to save the men. In addition, he ate a poisonous plant that Hermes, the messenger of the gods, offered to him for his protection. He accepted the offer, skeptical and afraid of what would happen if he did not take the plant. Once Odysseus got Circe to turn his crew back to humans after a year of supplicating, he leaves to the Underworld to find a way home. This is also very brave of Odysseus, because traveling to the underworld meant certain death. When he arrives, he sacrifices a lamb to a blind prophet, Tiresias, and he tells Odysseus how to get home.