Leadership In Homer's Epic Poem, The Odyssey

Odysseus, King of Ithaca, and the main character in homer’s The Odyssey, was gone for twenty years before finally returning to his family and his homeland. He struggled through many hardships and lost many loyal companions. The King of Ithaca would not have made it home without the assistance of the Greek gods. Despite all of the help and advice that Odysseus receives from the gods, he is a very brave man because his courage and daring in the cave of the Cyclops, his inability to give up and abandon his men on Circe’s island, and his flawless following of the gods instructions are acts of bravery that is uncommon in most men.

Bravery was probably one of the traits Odysseus was known for best. Without his bravery, the story most-likely wouldn't have been as exciting and suspenseful as it was. One of the situations that displayed this trait was when they landed on the

First in The :Odyssey , Odysseus show the trait of bravery. Odysseus show the trait when going against the cyclops polyphemus,blinding him.odysseus does this stating ,”forward they sprinted, lifted it, and rammed it / deep in his crater eye and leaned on it”/(9.332-333).This quote tells that odysseus and his men ram a giant spear into the

In fictional comics, most superheroes shows bravery when completing their jobs and they also use this characteristic to help themselves win against the battle between their super villains. However, in the reading, “The Voyage of Odysseus” by Sally Benson, Odysseus shows bravery when confronting against Polyphemus and coming up with a plan to escape the giant’s cave with his men. In the text, a quote states that “Odysseus called to his four friends and, lifting the staff, the thrust the end of it into the fire until it was red hot. Then they plunged it into the Cyclops’ one eye. The monster roared in pain. Earlier, Odysseus had told his companions to harness the rams of the flock three abreast with willow branches, which they found on the floor of the cave” (Benson 3-4). In the this example, the readers learn that Odysseus and four of his men blinded the giant by stabbing the cyclops’s eye with fire. Afterwards, Odysseus told his men to surround their bodies with sheep flock in order to escape from the cyclops’s cave. It is important to mention this explanation because then people will know how to be brave in a way that can eliminate their dangerous obstacles and saving people from anything or anyone that is treacherous to them. In all, there are many situations that require the characteristics of bravery such as going in war

Odysseus shows his heroism through his bravery. When Circe turned his men into swine, Odysseus confronted her: "I drew my sharpened sword and in one bound held it against her throat"("Circe, the

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.

Leadership is the ability of motivating an assembly of people to act towards a common goal and has the skill to make others want to follow in their direction (Ward). The epic Beowulf, contains various scenes of how the protagonist hero, Beowulf, shows great leadership. Beowulf portrays good leadership by his confidence, his physical strength, and his loyalty, which are important qualities of the Anglo-Saxon time.

Built-in qualities such as intelligence, good looks, height and so on are not necessary to become a good leader. Anyone can cultivate the proper leadership qualities. In order to excel in their leadership a good leader must possess qualities such as self awareness, courage, confidence, innovation, fairness, openness, and dedication among others. Odysseus in The Odyssey, and Samuel, Saul and David in the Books of Samuel, display these characters. However, at some occasions they fail to do so. That is to say, leaders, being it great or small, chosen by God or people, are not completely perfect.

In The Odyssey written by Homer the main protagonist, Odysseus, learns many things about himself on his journey back home and reveals the truth that mankind can be easily manipulated by someone who seems more powerful and or intimidating. Odysseus has a troubling time getting back home to his wife and kingdom when the god of the sea, Poseidon, does almost everything in his power to stop him from doing so. Along Odysseus’s journey he has to face many obstacles and he learns to display three main traits of bravery, wittiness and perseverance which he uses to get home safely and avoid the dangers of threatening people and or things that get in the way. Odysseus proves himself to be full of bravery, which he exhibits during a fight with a cyclops:

The main character in "The Odyssey" is Odysseus. A man who has earned advanced glory and worship in "The Cyclops," "The Test of The Bow," and, "The Grace of the Witch" by Homer. Odysseus shows throughout these episodes how he earned those two definitions. But how does Odysseus show this bravery and/or courage?

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

The poet and critic W.H. Auden described the Homer’s heroes as “born, not made to do brave deeds, he cannot be called brave in our sense of the word because he never feels fear.” I agree because Homer’s heroes, such as Odysseus, often exemplify bravery in the most frightening situations, while keeping their composure. Moreover, the Auden also comments on how free choice and responsibility is circumscribed in Odysseus’ journey. His comments suggests that Odysseus is mainly controlled by fate and does not feel fear.

In the Lotus Eaters, the strong minded leaders can help the weak minded crew when they got sick when they eat the Lotus and Odysseus saves them. Odysseus told his trustworthy men to go and see what the land has to offer, “Then i sent out two picked men and a runner to learn … what the land sustained”(201). When Odysseus told the men to go and see what the land holds, they do not know what is in store. They don't come back for a while and Odysseus gets worried. Then the crew comes back they are intoxicated from the plants and, “They longed to stay forever…, forgetful of their homeland”(209). If they ate those plants they wanted to stay there forever , eating the plants. And the only way Odysseus could get his men back on the boat was for him

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.

One of the biggest traits Odysseus shows throughout the story is his bravery. The whole story Odysseus shows his courage. Taking every mission knowing there could be death; Odysseus still did not give up. Odysseus did whatever it took to make back to Ithaca for his wife and son. Odysseus showed courage by outsmarting the Cyclops. Odysseus went to the land of the dead just to bury a dead shipmate with no fear. But Odysseus showed his every bit of bravery when planning and fighting against the suitors. Odysseus set up plans to kill all the suitors with only 3 people with him. Odysseus refused to back down from the suitors so when the time came he was prepared. When all the suitors were killed Odysseus and his family had finally reunited. After 20 years of Odysseus bravery had all paid off. That’s why I think Odysseus shows he has lots of bravery throughout the story.