The traits of leadership are not evident in Odysseus during much of his journey home to Ithaca. However, during his journey, Odysseus becomes better at leading his crewmates and making choices that would hurry their journey home instead of delay it. Soon after Odysseus’s crewmates convince him to leave Circe and resume their journey home, they face an obstacle in Scylla and Charybdis. During this terrifying episode, Odysseus displays his leadership in a prominent way by taking control of the situation and saying “So now let us all agree to do exactly what I say. Oarsmen, stay at your oars, striking hard with your blades through the deep swell, in the hope that Zeus allows us to escape disaster and come out of this alive. Helmsman, your orders …show more content…
Give a wide berth to that foaming surf, and hug these cliffs, or before you can stop her the ship may take us over there and we’ll be wrecked” (12.212-222). In the face of catastrophe, while facing Scylla and Charybdis, Odysseus takes responsibility and thinks with a clear mind. This allows his men to minimize their losses by facing Scylla and Charybdis. The leadership shown by Odysseus is especially well displayed when he is faced with a life-threatening conflict. Similarly, when Telemachus is faced with the conflict of expelling the Suitors from his household, he begins to display the beginnings of leadership in taking control of the Suitors. After deciding that he must take action against the Suitors, “He at once gave orders to the clear-voiced criers to call the long-haired Achaeans to Assembly. The heralds cried their summons and the people quickly gathered.” (2.6-8). When faced with the task of restoring order to Ithaca by himself, Telemachus displays his newfound leadership by calling all of the Achaeans to an assembly. This action shows that Telemachus is taking action to accomplish his goal, which is to rid his father’s palace of the arrogant
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
Odysseus, being the king of his homeland, possesses remarkable leadership abilities. In Greek system, king is known as βασιλεύς and has the power to lead the people of his country. For instance, Odysseus appears as a leader when he goes alone to free his shipmates from Circe’s palace by keeping the companions in the ship even though Eurylochus warns him that Circe is dangerous and there is no chance for him to return from her. He does not depend on his shipmates to take any decision from which he is an independent man. Thus, Odysseus considers himself a heroic king who takes care of his people and always leads and protects them.
Odysseus makes some substantial mistakes, thus leading to the failure to his men. Odysseus shows extremely inadequate leadership qualities throughout the story. When Odysseus is on the journey to Ithaka, he neglects to let his crew know how long they will be staying on each island. He also neglects to let them know of the journey that lies ahead. This is very poor leadership in the eyes of his crew members. The crew relies on their leader to be honest with them when it comes to situations such as these. They expect Odysseus to make decisions for the well being of the crew. When Odysseus receives advice, even if it is helpful he tends to ignore it. He thinks he is the most intelligent human being, even more so than the gods. A prime example of this is when Odysseus receives advice from Kirke about Scylla. Kirke tells Odysseus not to fight Scylla, yet he chooses to anyway. Another example of Odysseus’s ignorance toward people is when Eurylochus tells him not to go onto Kirke’s island because he knows the crew would be turned into swine. Odysseus again chooses to ignore the intelligent advice given by the gods, and finds out that hard way that Eurylochus was correct. After all that Odysseus has done to the crew, it is true to
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,
“Leaders instill in their people a hope for success and a belief in themselves. Positive leaders empower people to accomplish their goals.” One of the greatest facets that any person can possess is leadership, the ability to create change for the better. Across the world, many believe Odysseus is one of the most iconic representations of what a hero should be, but the question of whether or not he was a good leader will always be open to interpretation. Every single person in the world has a unique style and strategy in order to efficiently follow through his or her plan and attain his or her set goal. Odysseus’s leadership style and strategy often raise inquiries of whether or not it was effective.
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
In the Odyssey, Odysseus is an amazing leader because, time after time, get his men out of difficult situations. For example, Odysseus gets his men out of a difficult situation on the island of cyclops. He does this by blinding the eye of the cyclops, then riding out on the sheep when they get let out, saving most of his men. He felt the urge to get his men out because they were getting eaten. He is a good leader because he cares for his men and gets them out of difficult situations. Odysseus also saves his men when they are with Circe. She turns half of them into pigs, so to keep the other half human, he slept with her. So she let them stay safe with her for a year because of Odysseus. He saves his men once again by doing this. Some
In the Odyssey, Odysseus was a very effective leader in many ways. One example is when Odysseus protects one of his crew members after he was turned into a pig.The crew was very hungry, and was on Circe's island. Some members went off to find food, and one came back with a pig. He said that they couldn't eat this pig because it was his friend, and that Circe turned him into a pig. Odysseus showed leadership by telling his crew to wait, and to let him go and see if he is telling the truth. Odysseus He had to sacrifice himself to Circe, so she could change his men back to humans. Odysseus was brave, and strong. He climbed up the mountains, and gave himself to Circe, but the whole time was thinking about his wife, Penelope. Another example is
Odysseus shows us the true meaning of leadership throughout the Odyssey.In the Odyssey, Odysseus decides to step up and take charge in many aspects of their journey. For example, ”The rest of you loyal friends stay here, while I and my crew take ship and try and find out who these men are,”( Odyssey Book IX 152-192). This shows his leadership because he is ordering the other people to stay by the boat so they can stay safe. Another piece of evidence is,”I ordered the men to cast lots as to which of them should dare to help me raise the stake and twist it into the Cyclops’ eye when sweet sleep took him,”(Odyssey Book IX 307-359). Through Odysseus words, we can tell he is taking charge so they all can return to safety because he cares about them.
Leadership is a hard task with many responsibilities, and at some point hard decisions are required to be made, many of these decisions are unpopular. Odysseus in Homer’s The Odyssey is a main leader often conflicted with his own hubris. Odysseus’ leadership, at the beginning of this novel, seems to be for the better of the group, however at the end his own hubris and pride take over his leadership skills.
One of the reasons why Odysseus is a good leader is because he saves his men on multiple occasions. A good example was when he saved his men from the Cyclops. In the Odyssey it states “Here’s liquor to wash down your scraps of men… He seized and drained the bowl, and it went down so fiery and smooth he called for more” (hom. 904). He used his wisdom to get the cyclops drunk so it would be easier to escape. He could have said something that could have made the Cyclops enraged wich could have made his men die. Instead, he used his wisdom to get out of his men and his situation.
When it comes to a strong leader, Odysseus is not the best option. Not only did Odysseus fail to save any of his men, but his selfishness caused him and his crew to go on this journey in the first place. If Odysseus had not given his identity to the Polyphemus, then Polyphemus would not have told Poseidon to make Odysseus’ life miserable. This shows that he has poor leadership skills because an exceptional leader would have saved their crew rather than doom them. Another example of Odysseus’ lack of leadership skills is the fact that he did not have to be tied to the mass, he just wanted to hear the sirens song. Tiresias told Odysseus to make sure that he and his crew plugged their ears with wax when they were passing the sirens. Then out of
Odysseus was an effective leader for many reasons. One example was in the story of the siren’s was when he was caring. When he was on the boat he was a good leader because he was leader his crew and he tied himself up to a pole and put beeswax in there. Another way Odysseus was effective was in The Lotus Eater’s story. He was supportive because he tied his crew up to the the boat so the would stop eating the plants because the would lose all hope of going home. A third example would be in the story of the Cyclops. Odysseus was cooperative with his crew because they tricked the cyclops to drink wine then they sharpened a huge spear and poked it into his eye so he couldn't see them when they escaped. In the end, Odysseys was an effective leader
This shows how Odysseus motivates his men and displays his leadership in full, as they are about to face Scylla and Charybdis. Odysseus could not have gotten home by himself, but with the help of his men and the leadership he provided for them he was able to return home. Unfortunately none of his men returned home. Odysseus though does not only inspire these men. When he returns home, he uses his leadership to motivate some of his servants to help him fight the suitors that have taken over his home.
Odysseus illustrates the quality of leadership. To be a leader, one must be loyal, strong, sharp, and wise. Odysseus demonstrates loyalty while he is trapped on Kalypso’s Island. Alone, angry, and depressed, Kalypso tempts Odysseus to fall in love with her, yet, Odysseus remains loyal to his wife and gives up the fine and tempting opportunity: “My lady goddess, here is no cause for anger./