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Odysseus As A Good Leader In The Odyssey By Homer

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In the epic the The Odyssey by Homer, Odysseus is bad leader because his selfishness leads to bad outcomes and he does not communicate with his men properly. One of the reasons Odysseus is an unfit leader is because he puts himself above others. When Odysseus and his men go to the island of the Cyclopes, they discover a cave that Odysseus wants to explore. His men try and convince him to leave, but to this he ignores their pleas and says “Yet I refused. I wished to see the cave man, what he had to offer- no pretty sight, it turned out, for my friends” (155-157). 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. When they land on the island his men are held captive and are turned into animals. This is Odysseus’s response to the situation.“After Circe releases his men from the spell, Odysseus spends a year with her” (pg 506). In this situation, …show more content…

He is not thinking of his men who have homes and families to get back to. A good leader will make decisions based on

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