How Is Odysseus Selfish

In the novel The Odyssey, written by Homer, Odysseus is portrayed as a bad leader because of his selfish decisions and bad character. Odysseus makes a selfish decision when he leads his crew to stay in Polyphemus’s cave thinking he would offer gifts and Odysseus would “accept (his) help, or any gifts/” he had to “give” (9.726-727). This is a selfish act because he is putting his crew in danger for something that would only benefit himself. In the end, many of his people died and no one benefited. Once again, Odysseus displayed selfish acts when Circe told him “ he will be the only survivor of their long journey” (Homer 764). Odysseus is extremely selfish by betraying his crew. His crew believes that Odysseus is trying to help them return home, when he is actually only concerned about himself.

This shows bad character because he is acting arrogant. This puts his crew in danger because Odysseus angers the Cyclopes whose father has control over the ocean Odysseus and his crew are on. The “hero” shows bad character once again when he tells his crew about the “Sirens/ weaving a haunting song over the sea” (12.1245-1246), but leaves out the adventure they are going to encounter with the Scylla and Charybdis. The Greek hero proves he has bad qualities again when he becomes untrustworthy. His crew trusts him, but they do not know that he does not tell the whole truth. Overall, Odysseus is often portrayed as a “model hero”, but in reality he has many faults such as being untrustworthy, arrogant and