Odysseus As A Leader In Homer's The Odyssey

Camila Ventura Ms. Quijano-Diaz English 1 Honor 11 March 2024 Is Odysseus a Good Leader? Over the course of Homer's epic poem "The Odyssey," Odysseus has shown himself to be a capable leader on numerous occasions and a less than ideal one on others. Many now question if Odysseus is indeed a capable leader in light of this. Odysseus is portrayed as a complex character who displays bravery and wisdom. His astute tactics, fearlessness in the face of difficulty, and inventiveness in conquering obstacles frequently portray him as a perceptive leader.

Traits that leaders possess honesty, selflessness, morals, physical and mental strength, forethought, and many more traits. A leader guides their men and women to success. Odysseus does not fit this definition. Odysseus is not a good leader because he didn’t not lead his men to victory, he wasn’t honest to his men, and he cheated on his wife during the journey. This has relevance to this day and age because we have people who are put in position of leadership that make really questionable decisions.

In the story “The Odyssey”, by Homer, Odysseus improves his leadership abilities from not caring about his men and being selfish to thinking for his men’s lives before his own. First, during Odysseus’ visit to the Cyclops' Cave, Odysseus wants to stay to fill his desire to “see the caveman” but because of this, many of Odysseus’ men end up being killed by the Cyclops (Homer 958). Therefore, Odysseus is selfish and thinks of his personal desire to see the cyclops over his men’s lives. A good leader would have thought about his men first and left the Cyclops’ Cave as soon as possible. Odysseus’ poor leadership is on the reasons that his journey is difficult.

Odysseus was a leader who faced many challenges throughout his long journey and overcame them with the heroic attributes of intelligence, bravery and cleverness. When he completed his service fighting in the war, he could not have guessed the trials that would come his way. However, throughout the story, we have much evidence to show the strength and determination he showed, especially when facing the one-eyed cyclops, Polyphemus.

The Vanities of Life A man once said that what happens in the lives of his family, friends, and colleagues, is of no concern to him. He could not care less to engage and assist. Is that the sound of a loving leader, one who works in the best interests of those around him? It is not, nonetheless, that Odysseus was just as aloof and careless as the man. Translated and published in 1961 by Robert Fitzgerald, Homer’s collection of epic poetry, The Odyssey, depicts the story of a supposed hero and the trials and tribulations encountered on his journey home.

The Odyssey provides many instances of leadership shown in the main character, Odysseus. The epic written by Homer follows the twenty year quest of Odysseus as he tries to find his way home, running into many mythological Greek characters along the way. Odysseus is illustrated as a bad leader as he leads his men on something of a wild goose chase through ancient Greece. Odysseus repeatedly puts his men in the grip of death while on their way home. After escaping the Cyclops, in whom’s cave many men were eaten alive, he shouts back from his ship, “‘How do you like the beating that we gave you, you damned cannibal? Eater of guests under your roof! Zeus and the gods have paid you!’” (The Cyclops. 478-480). His statement angers the Cyclops, causing

“Heroes are made by the paths they choose not the powers they are graced with,” - Brodi Ashton. In the Odyssey --The Epic Hero is written by Homer, represents one does not have to obtain powers to be a hero. Odysseus reflects the heroic traits of the Greek culture because he is brave, an effective leader, a skilled warrior and is of high birth.

Have you always read books where the main character is usually the hero of the story? What if I told you that in the book The Odyssey the main character isn’t the hero. As a matter of fact, there is no specific hero in the The Odyssey. Although Odysseus is the main character of the story, he is definitely not the hero. Odysseus has acquired some qualities of being the hero, but have acquired numerous of qualities of not being one. First of all, Odysseus has shown quite a few time of where he showed no respect towards others. In addition, how can he be considered a hero when he killed a mass of people. Lastly, he has been unfaithful towards his wife Penelope. Overall, Odysseus have proven that he isn’t a hero through his traits that appeared throughout the story.

To be a veteran is a matter of being in near perfect mental and physical condition and state. Veterans have to endure life changing events and most of the time, it is hard to cope with. Veterans fight for our country so that we may have the privileges we do today. I think the legendary protagonist from Homer’s well-known epic “The Odyssey”¬ – Odysseus, is similar to all veterans.

“Leadership consists not in degrees of technique but in traits of character; it requires moral rather than athletic or intellectual effort, and it imposes on both leader and follower alike the burdens of self-restraint.”-(Lewis H. Lapham). In the epic of the Odyssey, the main character Odysseus has many traits. Odysseus’ traits show the true characteristics in the story by seeing his character act under pressure and overcome it. Odysseus is a war hero, but after the war he will encounter challenges. He is an intelligent leader who is determined to end his epic journey and get home to his son and wife.

The definition for leader is the person who leads or commands a group, organization, or country. This definition defines odysseus from The Odyssey because he is a person who commands a small army through Danger and survives. He keeps his men alive because he has analytical skills he takes the tasks at hand to his full attention and takes steps until the task is complete this helps him when he escapes the clutches of a cyclops and saves his men.

Life is about making choices. Always do your best to make the right ones and always do your best to learn from the wrong ones, -Unknown. In the epic poem, “The Odyssey” by Homer, the main character shows positive traits of a leader. I believe that Odysseus is primarily an effective leader. Now, yes he made poor judgment calls but that’s what being human is about, making mistakes learning from them, and moving forward.

After reading the Odyssey, and hearing about all of the actions that Odysseus took part in, the conclusion had been met that, even though he made some bad decisions, Odysseus is generally a strong leader. One event that show his guidance is when Odysseus was the leader of a group of men when they went together, bravely, into the rough Trojan War. During the war, Odysseus showed his strong leadership by never giving up on his men, he told his men to keep fighting and to keep moving. Although there were some events in which he did not make the best decision, or had to make a decision that might seem bad but will be good in the long run. Another reason why I believe that he is a strong leader is because, Odysseus is persistent in his choices,

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

In the epic poem The Odyssey written by Homer, Odysseus is a good leader because his men put their faith and loyalty in him and Odysseus can use his wits to get his men out of deadly crises.