Odysseus As A Leader In The Odyssey By Homer

A good leader should ensure he is trustworthy, direct, and rational, while a bad leader is egotistical, dishonest, and secretive. “The problem with leadership is inevitably: who are we following? You need to be very careful who you select as your hero." Jordan Peterson. Homer writes about Odysseus in The Odyssey , who is on his way back from Troy, and on his journey home, he made some poor decisions on the journey, which makes Odysseus a bad leader. Homer proves that Odysseus is a weak leader because of the egotistical decisions, and the lack of trust between his men that he made that cause the various trials that he puts his men and himself through, which inevitably lead to all his men’s deaths.

Homer depicts Odysseus as a weak leader,

The problem stems from Odysseus withholding valuable information that could have saved the lives of his men. For example, in Bag of Winds, Odysseus receives the sack that contains all the unfriendly winds. His men complained about "how this man gets honored and makes friends in whatever city he goes to. See what fine prizes he is taking from Troy while we, who have traveled just as far as he has, come back with hands as empty as we set out... Quick, let’s see what it all is and how much gold and silver there is in the sack.” (Homer, Book X) His men were envious of how Odysseus gained copious amounts of treasure while doing the exact same thing as the rest of the crew were doing. The crew did not gain anything from the journey. The quote exemplifies the division between Odysseus and his men. The division causes a disconnect between the leader and subordinates . In addition, the quote displays what temptation does when one does not have faith in their superiors. A good leader should make sure that the bond he has with all those he commands is as strong and brotherly as can be. A lack of trust and respect between superior and soldier may lead to mutiny and jeopardize the entire mission. Another example of Odysseus being a poor leader is during Cattle of the sun god, when Odysseus' men have been ravaged by hunger and are on the verge of madness, their ship had just arrived on the island. Tiresias and Circe explicitly stated that his men should not eat the cattle of Helios. However Eurymolchus rallied the men, while Odysseus was resting Eurymolochus plead to the men that remained `` [y]ou've gone through everything; listen to what I say. All deaths are hateful hateful to us mortal wretches, but famine is the most pitiful, the worst end a man can come to. Will you fight it? Come we’ll cut out the noblest of cattle and