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Odysseus As A Leader In The Odyssey, By Homer

649 Words3 Pages

Throughout the stories in Homer’s, The Odyssey, Odysseus shows characteristics of a poor leader but sometimes lets us see moments where he is a good. In the stories Odysseus is faced with situations that show his true colors. Most of the time Odysseus is very brave and loyal to his crew mates. On the other hand at times he can show a lack of trust in his crew and let his pride outweigh his brain. He shows loyalty by never leaving any members of his crew behind. He also shows lack of trust through his miscommunications and hubris. Odysseus is just a person who is trying to do what is right but sometimes things tempt him otherwise.

Odysseus shows loyalty to his crew by rescuing them from Circe. After he has gained Circe's trust and admiration …show more content…

As they sail away Odysseus calls out to the Cyclops “Your filthy crimes came down on your own head, you shameless cannibal” which the cyclops responds to by throwing a boulder into the water by their ship (9.534). Even though his crew begs to not “rile the beast again” Odysseus continues to push him even further by yelling out that “Odysseus, raider of cities, he gouged out your eye”(9.550, 9.560-561). The Cyclops then prays to his father, Poseidon, to curse Odysseus’ journey home. By teasing the Cyclops, Odysseus put all of his men in danger when the boulder was thrown. He also is risking their lives on the journey home since now the trip is doomed by Poseidon. If he had been humble about what he had done he could have avoided a lot trouble for him and his …show more content…

After escaping from the Cyclops, Odysseus and his crew reach the Aeolian island. During that time the men sailed for nine days straight with Odysseus mainly doing everything. He maned the sails alone, “never trusting the ropes to any other mate” (10.37). Instead of having faith in his team he only trusts himself to get the job done. Also when he receives the bag of wind from Aeolus he doesn't tell his crew what he had received. He allows them to believe that he “was hauling troves of gold and silver home” (10.40). If Odysseus really trusted his crew then telling then what he has received should have been no problem. Odysseus purposely conveys a lack of communication with his team and would rather have them do nothing than

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