Odysseus Characterization Paper

Although Odysseus is one of the most well known greek heros in the world, he is also very controversial among the people as well. In the book, “The Odyssey” written by Homer, Odysseus made some choices that makes the readers question his role as a leader. In “The Odyssey”, it tells the story about Odysseus’ long journey home from the Trojan War. Along the way, Odyssey has extended his times away from home by making unintelligent decisions that led him to encounter one disaster after another. Although Odysseus has some positive attributes, he is a poor leader for the following reasons: he is too cocky and overconfident, he make careless decision, and finally, he is very selfish.

One of the major themes of Homer’s Odyssey is the importance of cunning over strength. This also happens to be the case with Odysseus and his long ten year journey home from fighting in Troy. Odysseus uses his intelligence over strength to ‘fight’ through tough times and bring himself home to Ithaca. Odysseus uses his intelligence when he has his men tie him down while passing the Sirens, so he himself will be able to hear their beautiful song, but not be entranced by their singing. He also uses cunning to escape from the Cyclops’ cave without being harmed. He then uses his cunning by storing away all of the armory, shields, and knives from the suitors so he is able to kill them easily.

Peter Drucker said, “Effective leadership is not about making speeches or being liked; leadership is defined by results, not attributes.” Homer proves this point in The Odyssey, which is an epic poem, and the main character is Odysseus. Odysseus is on his way back from the Trojan War and everyone returns back to Ithaca beside him, he is being held against his will, by Calypso, on Ogygia. He soon will be faced with problems that come about all because of himself. Some people like Odysseus are not fit to be a leader because he is arrogant, foolish, and a liar.

“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.

Odysseus has many heroic qualities such as cleverness, physical strength,and bravery. First, Odysseus tricked the cyclops, Polyphemus, by telling him his name was “Nobody” ( The Odyssey 1058). This showed cleverness because Odysseus gave the cyclops a bottle of wine to make him drunk, which caused him to fall asleep. Then, Odysseus found some wood and sharpened it to stab Polyphemus in the eye. While Polyphemus was blind, he asked Odysseus what his name was, he said it was Nobody and made the cyclops believed that was his name. Another example of when he showed a heroic quality is when Odysseus tricked the suitors by doing an impossible task he knew no one could do and it was to string

When someone says the word leader, the first thought is someone who is considerate of others, smart, and has good communication. In Homer's epic poem The Odyssey, Odysseus is an epic hero who goes on a journey in order to get back home, but doing so proves he is not a great leader. Although Odysseus may have gotten himself home, he got none of his men home, which shows he is a horrible leader. Odysseus is a terrible leader because he gets all of his men killed on his trip back home, he exposes himself and his men to the Cyclops, which puts him and his men in danger, and he has horrible communication which causes his ship to get farther from home. Since Odysseus does all of this, it proves he is a horrific leader. Odysseus thinks of himself

Odysseus does not fit the mold of a true hero because he is not perfectly of good character and also, like all human beings, possesses some less than favorable qualities. What I mean by less than favorable is that the qualities are not neccessarily those that you would associate with the "perfectly good" being. For example, you probably do not associate the characteristics merciless, reckless, or cruel with your favorite fictional hero.Those are characteristics of the classic villain, aren't they? My point is, each of those

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.

You will probably show leadership more than once in your life time but there’s good leadership and bad leadership. Which leader ship did Odysseus show? In the book ‘The Odyssey’ written by Geraldine McCaughrean, Odysseus saved his men from monsters and giants on his journey home from the war. Odysseus saved his men risking his life, making the right decision for the best outcome for his men. Though his men weren’t loyal to him he persevered to get them home. This is why Odysseus was a great leader who was concerned only for the welfare of his men.

In the Odyssey, Odysseus is a very good example of a strong, wise, responsible hero throughout the epic. Although there are people at home he loves and cares for but as the good leader he is, he sacrifices those things like his wife and child to go to war and lead. Odysseus was the main factor for the greeks winning the war of troy. Even if he wasn’t the main leader he still showed his signs of leadership in his actions. Odysseus is a great leader shown by his actions.

In the epic poem The Odyssey by Homer, Odysseus faces many challenging situations in which many people look to him for leadership, which he must provide. However, Odysseus has a way of tackling these situations that is not effective for his followers. For effective leadership to take place, there must be a clear, strictly professional relationship between the leader and the followers. This is not the case with Odysseus and his crew, which is why his leadership is often ineffective, when it needs to be effective and helpful for his followers. The Odyssey reveals the distrust and the problems that enter a leader-follower relationship when the leader and the followers’ connection is too close and too personal.

One eyed monsters, witches, sea creatures, and beautiful women all test a leaders ability to command and direct his men down the correct path that benefits all. In Homer’s epic poem,”The Odyssey”, the great leader Odysseus battles in and wins the Trojan War. Odysseus angers the gods with his hubris and as a result he will face life threatening and dangerous situations during his travels back home to Ithaca. Once returning he fights over a hundred men who are trying to take his throne. Odysseus is a good leader as seen through his perseverance, ability to think ahead, and intelligence.

¨Leadership is the challenge to be something more than average.¨ (Jim Rohn) Everyone is a leader in one way or another. Leadership takes many qualities such as commitment, because if the leader is not committed he's not a good leader. In the book the Odyssey, odysseus is one of the most committed leaders that never gives up. In the book, Odysseus's goal is to make it home, and he has to fight obstacles on the way allowing him to be a committed leader.

Odysseus’ craftiness sets him apart from the other characters as a hero because he succeeds when others fail.

Kings, knights, battles. These are things that a person thinks of when it comes to heroes. Odysseus is not only a king that goes through a lot, but he also has so many more features to his personality. Each trait develops over the course of the story and by the end of the book, Odysseus is a hero. Courage is the first trait someone might notice, because he is willing to take risks and give up everything, even his life. Intelligence is present in almost everything Odysseus does. Lastly, leadership is a trait that Odysseus has had since the very beginning of the Trojan War. Many will think that Odysseus is cocky and self-centered, but throughout The Odyssey, Homer displays Odysseus as a heroic character with many complex traits. Courage is a