Odysseus As An Effective Leader In Homer's The Odyssey

Intro: There are a wide variety of themes present throughout the Odyssey, written by Homer. Be it hospitality, perseverance, vengeance or power of the Gods, loyalty is truly the theme that brings the whole book together. Being 10 years after the Trojan War, many have forgotten about Odysseus and his men as they constantly brave what the gods throw their way. This essay will be talking about Odysseus and Penelope’s mutual loyalty to one another, the loyal relationships between Gods and men and finally, the loyalty Odysseus’ men show for him until death. This essay with prove to us that without loyalty, Odysseus’ legendary journey would have been put to an end near where they started. The general theme of loyalty is what kept Odysseus

First of all, Odysseus was very selfish during their journey back to Ithaca. For example,“We lit a fire, burnt an offering, and we took some cheese to eat; then sat in silence around the embers, waiting”(Homer 219-222). If Odysseus took the cheese and left, his men would not have had to dealt with Polyphemus. He put himself before his men because he wanted a gift from the cave owner. Odysseus was also selfish when he sailed near the lands of Sirens.“Steer wide; keep well to seaward; plug your oarsmen’s ears with beeswax kneaded soft”(Homer 669-671). Although Circe told Odysseus to steer clear of the area, Odysseus wanted to be known as the man who survived a Siren’s song. He put his own men in danger just because he wanted to become famous. Odysseus was also very arrogant to think that he could get past the Sirens.

Odysseus thinks that his reasoning are final and his activities are constantly just and right, although he frequently allows his ego control his rational thinking, resulting harm to his group and messing with the gods’s plans. His men could have went back home Securely for it is the desire of Athena and the other heavenly gods who surround to her in Mount Olympus, however Odysseus takes it to himself to outrage and blind Polyphemus, the monstrous son of Poseidon, adored by his dad yet abhorred by the people, In this way distrusting their whole arrangement . Subsequent to being blinded by the heroine, Polyphemus tosses huge pieces of rocks at Odysseus's ship, nearly obliterating them at the same time. But instead of retreating for safety, Odysseus keeps on provoking Polyphemus and “[calls] out to the cyclopes again, with [his] men hanging all over [him] begging him not to”(Book 9, 491-492). His feeling of pride and presumption influences to disregard the requests of his people even in these critical circumstances . He will fulfill his own feeling of interest and pleasure without thinking of the result it would have on his crew. Despite the fact that he is bound to get away from all passings and assaults, his group isn’t so blessed. Their lives are in mortal peril since Odysseus considers them as child sheeps who should forfeit their lives for him when the circumstances comes, much the same as how mortals make conciliatory offerings of sheeps for the heavenly gods. He is willing to fulfill his own feeling of interest without thinking of his groups lives or their suppositions and is regularly infuriated when they negate his request. If they hurt his sense of pride and self-importance and pomposity , Odysseus will be overcome with outrage and

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.

In the “Odyssey”, Odysseus goes through obstacles throughout the book that a normal man couldn’t subside. One example is in book 9, his main obstacle that he is trying to face is to escape from being held hostage in a cave by a Cyclops better known as Polyphemus. Odysseus is a archetypal hero, he is also a role model, with an ambition to get to his homeland Ithaca. He goes through resisting temptation and using his intellect and physical strength to get him there, no matter the obstacle nor the negative flaws that he faces. Odysseus put himself and his men in that situation by being curious and wanting to know what kind of land his ship and the winds led him to. This was selfish of him because it cost him some of his men, but a leader and hero has to play that role and some lives will be dealt with on the way. Odysseus says, “The rest of you will stay here while I go with my ship and crew on reconnaissance. I want to find out what those men are like, Wild savages with no sense of right or wrong Or hospitable folk who fear the gods” (Homer 429). Saying this quote alone makes Odysseus a humble man due to the fact that not even a piece of land is going to slow him down on his journey back home.

In the epic The Odyssey by Homer, Odysseus should not be considered a good leader because he is giving false hope to his crew and treats his crew very poorly by letting them die for his mistakes. A good leader should do what is necessary in order to achieve their goal and must be considerate of their crew, by respecting them and notifying them about any changes in their plans. It is the leader’s duty to let the crew decide what to do in tough situations and consider their opinions on entering risky scenarios.

After arriving in the land of the lotus eaters, Odysseus reveals his arrogance to both his crew and Polyphemus. As Odysseus shouted to Polyphemus, “I am Odysseus, son of Laertes, known to the world for every kind of craft - my fame has reached the skies” (212) instead, of showing his crew he is a magnificent leader he shows to be a horrible one. Odysseus

In the novel, The Odyssey, the main character Odysseus is portrayed as a leader who must overcome a multitude of challenges. He is similar to Oprah Winfrey because of the struggles she had to overcome to get where she is today. Odysseus and Oprah share similar qualities as leaders, heroes and renown role models because of their strong desire to never give up. They are different because of their way of thinking and dealing with situations. Although people think Oprah is a more significant hero than Odysseus because of his flawed nature, Odysseus and Oprah are both brazen leaders because of their ability to use words and actions to empower the people around them.

To start, Odysseus’ pride is shown during one of his first trials he overcomes when trying to get home: the Cyclops. This is part of the beginning of the Tests, Allies, and Enemies stage of his Hero’s Journey. After he had successfully defeated the Cyclops with his guile, he and his men successfully escape and are making a run for their ships. Odysseus taunts the Cyclops, despite his crew members’ warnings. Odysseus then says, “I would not heed them in my glorying spirit, but let my anger

On the other hand, Odysseus is not the perfect hero he may seem to be. He can be extremely selfish, and has a sense of hubris that causes many problems for him and his crew. To start off, Odysseus' selfishness has been very easy to recognize these last few books. For example, when he informs his crew that they will be staying at Kirke's palace for some time, Eurylokhos objects. Odyseuss describes, "they turned back, as commanded, to this work; / only one lagged, and tried to hold the others" (10.475-76).

He has loyalty, bravery, and courage. In The Odyssey, Odysseus is very loyal toward his men and will protect or rescue them if necessary. He’s brave and courageous when it comes to fighting and won’t hesitate to act. He’s also very clever. For example, Odysseus outwitted the Cyclops, Polyphemus, by giving a false name to disguise his identity. Amid all these qualities, there are still kinks in Odysseus’s character. His pride becomes evident after his confrontation with the Cyclops, where, after a narrow escape, he wished to bother Polyphemus again. His men had to plead to him, saying, “Godsake, Captain! Why bait the beast again? Let him alone!” Odysseus also struggles with selfish actions. For example, he feasts with Circe instead of rescuing his men first. The temptations got the better of him and in turn led him down the wrong

In The Odyssey by Homer, the main character, Odysseus, is found depicting this trait several times in the poem. But his way of being a leader is very controversial. Determining whether Odysseus is a good leader on not is a difficult task. On the surface, he appears to have more faults than successes. It seems that when it comes to Odysseus’ leadership qualities, Homer presents the reader with an ambiguous impression. But looking deeper, Odysseus can be found with a pure heart that cares for others. When Circe, a witch-goddess, tells Odysseus the possible future of him and his men, he immediately goes to his crew to tell them the news. He leads his speech with, “The crew now silent before me, I addressed them sore at heart.” Although this is a very short quote, the meaning behind Odysseus’ words are found when looking in between the lines. This phrase shows the captains respect that he has for his crew. He informs them about their future for the sake of them. When he says “sore at heart”, it shows that Odysseus truly does care for each one of his men. Later in the same book, Odysseus and his men face rough seas as they try to make their way back home. The crew are quickly starting to doubt themselves, but Odysseus being the leader he is, says, “Friends, have we never been in danger before this? More fearsome, is it now, than when the Cyclops penned us in his cave? What power we had!” Odysseus repeatedly says “we” in that phrase to emphasize that it is not only him that defeated the Cyclops, but also the whole crew. He hopes that by reminding them of their past accomplishments, it would give them confidence to move

Odysseus will endanger his crew to brag to the enemy when he thinks the battle is over, but it truly is not, “...tell him Odysseus, raider of cities, took your eye: Laertes’ son, whose home on Ithaca!”[Page 669; Line 503-505] After Odysseus, escapes the Cyclops’ home he tells this son of a gods his name and his homeland. This leads to him getting cursed, “...grant that Odysseus, raider of cities, never see his home again.”[Page 670; Line 528-530] This shows how Odysseus got cocky and got cursed for it, basically sealing the fate of his crew to perish on their journey home. Odysseus doesn’t care if he’s actions affect his crew, he would rather jeopardize his journey to only get cursed by the person he bragged to. He is the opposite of a good leader instead of leaving with the victory he lost due to how arrogant he

In Homer's The Odyssey Odysseus can be seen as a terrible leader. This point can be very easily seen from the many fails of his pirating career. One may also see him as a very strong and good leader, but what are the major points for this belief? For example, one episode that his good leadership is shown is when Odysseus saves his men from complete destruction on the Cyclopes island. He helped his men escape from the cannibal ways of Polyphemus by tying them to the underside of goats, "and with that threat he let my ram go free outside." (9.515). Odysseus even gets his men out to their ship safely, ". . . and a welcome sight we were to loyal comrades- we who'd escaped our deaths." (9.520-521). Another episodic example is when Odysseus helped

In Homer’s The Odyssey, “The Sirens” episode is exemplary of Odysseus’ growth in his journey to become a classic Greek hero, evident in his ability to lead and work cohesively with his crew, and encapsulate Greek values in order to further the success of his mission. As Odysseus and his crew draw near the Sirens, Odysseus elaborates upon the predicament Circe forewarned them of, speaking to his men in a manner that is “sore at heart” (685). Odysseus’ gentle, yet serious tone conveys the gravity of the situation while simultaneously uplifting his crew. By utilizing an encouraging tone of voice, Odysseus’ leadership skills demonstrate growth because he realizes the value in having a crew at his disposal that are eager and readily prepared for the mission ahead. Odysseus begins his speech by addressing his crew as “dear friends,” and goes on to inform them that “Sirens / weaving a haunting song over the sea / we are to shun,” stressing the importance and danger of their impending journey (686, 690-692). Odysseus specifically chooses to address his men as “friends,” deeming them as equal, dependable crew mates that Odysseus has faith in. He includes only the information necessary to inform them of the mission, excluding certain aspects that may frighten them past sensibility. By having a successful delivery of an otherwise frightful topic and taking command of his team in a gentle manner, Odysseus shows progress in his ability to lead, an important characteristic of Greek heroes. Odysseus’ plan on bypassing the Sirens is heavily reliant upon the collaboration of his crew, as they are to “tie [Odysseus] up, tight as a splint, / erect along the mast, lashed to the mast, / and if [he] shout[s] and beg[s] to be untied, / take more turns of the rope to muffle [him]” (695-699). Odysseus’ trust in his crew reaches a new extent during their journey in the Siren’s realm, evident in his decision to give his men a crucial role in the mission. Odysseus’ incorporation of his team vastly differs from that in “The Cyclops” episode, in which Odysseus executes the plan entirely on his own. Odysseus lacked all faith in his men during their venture into Polyphemus’ lair and his arrogance dissuaded him from involving them in the