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Examples Of Odysseus Being A Good Leader

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Odysseus is a Leader
The story of The Odyssey with Odysseus being a great leader has been told for many years and will be told many years to come. Traits of being a good leader are being determined, being intelligent, and using good judgement. I define a good leader as someone who is an example for others to follow, someone who you trust, and someone you respect and who respects you. In The Odyssey Odysseus shows a copious amount of leadership while he’s fighting against the gods to get home. I believe that Odysseus is a good leader because he is very determined to get back home and back to his wife and son, he is intelligent while he used the idea to kill the cyclops by getting him drunk and putting him to sleep so his men could kill him and escape,and Odysseus uses good judgement when he keeps a secret from his men that six of his crew members are going to be sacrificed for the rest of his crew to stay alive. We should care about this topic because it is pertinent in our world today. To start off, Odysseus is a good leader because he is determined to get back …show more content…

“Anteclous, the wine… It’s wine the drink of the gods” (The Odyssey). When Odysseus and his men are stuck in Polyphemus's cave Odysseus tricks him into drinking a lot of wine so he falls asleep so they can make a plan to get out alive. “ He seized and drained the bowl, it went down so firey and smooth he called for more… Now, by the gods, I drove my big hand spike deep in the embers charing it again. Straight forward they sprinted, lifted it and rammed it deep in his eye chater” (Hom. Od. 260). These quotes prove my claim because Odysseus played a trick on Polyphemus that worked out in his advantage to get out of the cave that he was trapped

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285 Words | 2 Pages

Leaders come in all shapes and sizes, however, what gives someone the title of a good or bad is decided by the decisions they make and how those decisions affect others. Odysseus led the squadron of soldiers in the trojan horse and is a hero of the Trojan War and the king of Ithaca. Consequently, this gives him experience when it comes acting in difficult situations. This experience should guide him to choose correctly when being put in a tight spot.

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748 Words | 3 Pages

Leadership can be established in how a hero guides his men and directs them. Numerous warriors from Greek Mythology are lauded for their control and management over their companions in times of difficulty and danger; furthermore, they are a model and an inspiration towards their comrades. Among several brave men, many people considered Odysseus to be incapable of being in charge, but some indications have also shown that his actions for the crew are sufficient. Even though both the controversies of the debate about the topic has information from The Odyssey by Homer, Odysseus is evidently an effective leader. Odysseus demonstrates as an efficient leader when they come across various threatening situations.

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583 Words | 3 Pages

A good leader should respect the people they’re working with, take ownership of their mistakes, and be trustworthy. Odysseus didn’t show most of these traits, Odysseus didn’t care about his crew as much as he should have. Percy Jackson showed great respect to his crew, he was close friends with the people he was working with which made it easier for them to get along and complete tasks together. Odysseus’ men betrayed him when they opened the bag of wind that blew them back home, if Odysseus had a good relationship with his crewmates, that wouldn’t have happened. Odysseus shouldn’t have treated his men the way that he did, Percy Jackson is a better leader than Odysseus in many ways.

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A good leader would have taken his men’s concerns into consideration. Odysseus is quick to decide that they should stay even if it meant potential danger. His quick and impractical decision eventually led to death among his men. This shows that he prioritizes himself over his men and is clearly selfish, a quality good leaders should not have. Another part of the adventure where this is portrayed is when Odysseus and his men are on Circe’s island.

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735 Words | 3 Pages

Leadership in The Odyssey Being a leader means to look past all distractions and focus on the main goal. Odysseus must return to his home, Ithaca, with the help of his crew. As they face evil and cruel forces, Odysseus’s strength, leadership, and dedication is tested. Despite Odysseus instructing his crew to return to their ship in order to avoid the Cicones, Odysseus forcefully ties his crew to the ship and reminds the crew about their past encounters to motivate them, supporting Homer’s changes in leadership. Homer continuously portrays Odysseus as being a strong, witty leader although his crew does not always obey him.

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769 Words | 4 Pages

Webster Dictionary defines leadership as simply, “providing direction or guidance,” but to be a successful leader one must focus on completing a goal in a way that is beneficial for the majority, not only the one in charge. This can be achieved by utilitarianism, which is doing of what is best for the most number of people, and carrying out actions that lead to positive effects, instead of merely being done with good intentions. In The Odyssey, Odysseus is not an exemplary leader because he went against utilitarianism by not being honest with his men, letting his arrogance control his behavior, and by killing many people in his house without a fair trial. Firstly, a leader must be truthful with those he works with in order for no errors or confusion to occur as a result of information being hidden. In The Odyssey, not being truthful lead to negative consequences for everyone on Odysseus’ ship, and thus contradicted the principle of utilitarianism stating that actions must lead to positive effects.

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489 Words | 2 Pages

Was Odysseus a good leader? Odysseus is known as a great leader who was able to solve any problem in the story, but in reality, he was a terrible leader. He put his men in danger and only cared for things that benefited him. Odysseus shouldn’t be considered a hero because of how much he puts his men in trouble and how selfish he is. He sacrifices his men so he can get home and become king again, which shows how selfish he can be.

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571 Words | 3 Pages

In Homer’s The Odyssey, Odysseus repeatedly shows that he is polytropos, for as Zeus says “There is no mortal half so wise”(3). Using his wits, Odysseus gets him and his men out of several sticky situations in the Odyssey, proving his leadership through his actions that save the lives of his crew member. On the other hand Odysseus’ streak of constantly outsmarting challenges, goes to his head, and unfortunately causes Odysseus to develop a hubris. His pride at times makes him arrogant, believing that he always knows best, which leads to the untimely demise of his crew. While Odysseus proves to be good leader by saving his crew from trouble with his wits, he is ultimately a bad leader because he refuses to listen to advice.

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1177 Words | 5 Pages

However, examples within the literary narrative of the Odyssey leaves the discussion open with regards to his leadership. Thus, the question of leadership supersedes the topic of Arete. Was Odysseus the ideal leader or did he portray undesirable leadership tendencies? The examples that will presented will illustrate that Odysseus hubris, risk taking prowess, and at times unwillingness to follow instructions often placed his crew in danger as he journeyed Ithaca.

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500 Words | 2 Pages

When Odysseus commands his men to go back to sea to voyage, he is a good leader because he is telling his men what to do. He is being a leader by protecting his men from the Ciccone 's army by leaving before reinforcements come. For example, when Odysseus and his men are heading to the sirens Odysseus states “you are to tie me up, tight as a splint” (Homer 1005). Odysseus is an admirable leader when he orders his men to tie him up and do not untie him because he is sacrificing himself for the good of his men. He is a leader when he does this because he lets his men not suffer the sirens while he has to.

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865 Words | 4 Pages

During these situations, Odysseus gains leadership and tactical skills from fighting in the war in Troy, which costs him 10 years of his life and another 10 years of sailing out on the sea from Poseidon 's curse. Odysseus is therefore a heroic and efficient leader because he plans his moves ahead of time and is vigilant at all times to ensure his safety. Yet, though Odysseus possesses these heroic leadership qualities, his arrogance sometimes leads to his downfall and inability to lead. While Odysseus is a little arrogant, he can also be a great leader because he is able to trust his second in command, Eurylochus, and give him more power while he is away. When Odysseus is away from Circe’s island, Odysseus has a change of heart and suddenly wants to go back to Circe’s island to retrieve his crew.

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508 Words | 3 Pages

Dwight Eisenhower once said, "The supreme quality of leadership is integrity." Odysseus displayed a lack of integrity and poor leadership by not fully communicating all the facts of the situation

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Ultimately Odysseus can be a good leader but behind the scenes, he's not. He may of saved his men multiple times, but also got them killed them due to his neglect. He might be intelligent but really he tolerably manipulated his crew by saying things such as “don’t you want to go back to your home again?”. In closing, throughout the whole story, Odysseus progresses himself and designates many Greek

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761 Words | 4 Pages

Odysseus used bravery, cleverness, and determination to be a good leader and get his men through all these dangerous obstacles. Odysseus is a good leader as seen through his bravery, cleverness, and determination. Odysseus demonstrates good leadership through his use of bravery.

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620 Words | 3 Pages

Throughout the story “The Odyssey” by Homer Odysseus, the main character counters countless amounts of trouble. As king and leader it is his job to keep his men save and get the job done. Odysseus does whatever it takes to keep his men unharmed, and more importantly, alive. All his crew and him dream about is getting back to their homeland, but first they have to pass the obstacles. Odysseus demonstrates good leadership qualities by doing whatever it takes to get the job done, using his advanced cunning abilities to trick his enemy, and constantly saving his crew from dangers.

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