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Odysseus And Moses In The Aeneid

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Moses in Exodus and Aeneas in the Aeneid are the closest to each other with regarding leadership. Both men were perceived to be the best leaders for their people without thinking of their own personal gain. Both of these leaders began their missions when their people were put into serious danger, which put both of these men true leadership abilities to the test. Aeneas and Moses were two different types of leaders when it came down to it. Moses and Aeneas both have to deal with the concept that they both have no sense of “free will”. They are both being constantly being toyed and played with by their different version of Gods. Truly, neither one of them are leaders because they are being lead by their personal gods way of living and doing. …show more content…

Aeneas is already made to be a powerful heroic figure by nature. At the end of the Aeneid he temporarily loses his heroism and his pietas. The burning of Troy guards his ability to perform like a natural hero he is. I can tell that his heroism will be an inner struggle within himself. Aeneas feels like he is no longer in control of his own destiny. This makes him more of a hero than a leader. He has to deal with battle everywhere he goes. Aeneas shows his true heroism and leadership when he choses his duties as a leader over his love for Dido. He has to tell Dido he is “duty-bound” (973). Aeneas shows compassion and love, which are some rare traits in heroes. To me, this makes him more of a hero because he can show his emotions. He felt very guilty and thought he was the reason she took her on life. Moses is more of a leader than a hero to me. Moses started out as an outsider because of where he was raised. The same people who pushed him to the outside were the same people he had to lead. He wads able to push past the barriers of being scared and the feeling that no one would listen to him. He was able to lead the people and gain their trust from the Lord’s word. Some would say that Moses is a hero because he split the Red Sea and led the Israelites to freedom. Moses had his doubts and fears when he is asked to do the job of the Lord intended in him to do. Good leadership is the ability to bring people to peace. Moses exemplifies instruction in his words and

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