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What does the odyssey say about leadership
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It’s a classical moral dilemma: do you lie or keep information from those you care about in order to better their lives, or do you tell them the truth, and risk ruining the relationship or potentially, some aspect of their life. This problem is portrayed in many forms of media, and it’s not always handled the same way. In The Odyssey, the protagonist, Odysseus, is forced to make this decision, with the negative outlook being the death of his crew members. As the leader, Odysseus is the one faced with making such decisions. While he initially has poor leadership skills at the beginning of his journey, Odysseus does have great potential as a leader, and as such, his leadership skills grow over the course of The Odyssey.
In Homer’s The Odyssey, Odysseus is an effective leader in chapter twelve. A leader who has too much pride is now showing too much humbleness for what’s important by following all the things he has told to do to save his crew and himself. He does what he is told to do to save his crew and keep them safe. “ But now, fearing death , all eyes fixed on Charybdis now Scylla snatched six men from our hollow ship, the toughest, strongest hands I had, and glancing backwards over the decks, searching or my crew I could see their hands and feet already hoisted, failing, high, higher, over my head, look wailing down at me, comrades riven in agony.
Homer was an ancient Greek writer best known for his book of epic poems The Odyssey. In The Odyssey, Odysseus is the protagonist who is meant to be the hero throughout the story; however, he does not display heroic qualities through his impulsive decisions, he is full of hubris, and displays terrible leadership. Throughout the whole journey, Odysseus makes impulsive decisions by never sticking to one plan. In the beginning, Odysseus and his men are stuck in a cyclops cave.
There have been many great leaders in stories, but one of the greatest, would be Odysseus in The Odyssey. The Odyssey is an epic poem written by Homer. Through his actions during the Trojan War, and in the Cyclops’ island, Odysseus demonstrates the characteristics of a tremendous leader. The first way Odysseus shows that he is a good leader, is when he gets him and his crew out of the Cyclops cave. When him and his crew first enter the cave the Cyclops eats two of Odysseus’s men, so Odysseus has his crew ride the underside of some of the Cyclops herd’s.
In part one of Homer’s Odyssey, Odysseus uses his epic hero qualities to help him out on his quest to get back home to Ithaca. He’s shows superb intelligence when fighting the cyclopes in “Book 9.” That’s a quality of superhuman intelligence that Odysseus possessed all throughout his entire journey. Another epic hero quality that helped Odysseus was help from Greek gods and goddesses. In part two of Homer’s Odyssey, Athena helped out Odysseus when he got back to his home land.
Epic poetry, known for its grand descriptions of glorious accomplishments, revolves around an honorable protagonist. As the hero faces adversity in his journey, he triumphs in fleeting moments of bravery. He often exhibits his physical strength to overcome his hardships, manifesting a story with a violent nature. In Homer’s The Odyssey, King Odysseus of Ithaca struggles to return to his loving wife and son after having fought in the Trojan War.
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.
A hero is someone who is revered for his or her exceptional achievements and bravery. Anyone who puts themselves before others not for recognition or an award, but because it is the right thing to do, is a true hero. In "The Odyssey," written by Homer is an epic poem about a man named Odysseus and his crewmates competing against the power of the gods to return to their homeland, Ithaca. Throughout his journey, he loses almost all of his men, but Odysseus finally arrives home, concluding his prolonged twenty-year voyage. Odysseus must battle the suitors that have taken his wife Penelope, and may soon kill his son Telemachus.
The Odyssey by Homer is an exemplary story that teaches life lessons to those going on a journey for themselves. It illustrates how the challenges and obstacles one may face can help someone become a better leader. The Odyssey highlights one man, Odysseus, a man filled with excessive pride, experiencing the wrath of the god Poseidon. He expects to arrive at his home, Ithaca, safely to reunite with his wife, Penelope, but unfortunately faces many temptations and setbacks. Due to the challenges he faces, it prevents him from arriving home as early as he thought he would.
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.
A leader always has strength, but it is what the leader does with the strength that makes him or her great. In the epic poem, The Odyssey, by Homer, Odysseus leads his men home after the Trojan War and during his journey, many conflicts occur. Odysseus is a good leader because he is motivated and has strong communication skills that help him to control his men, but also convince the crew to keep going so they may reach home. Odysseus’ motivation to return home is evident throughout many circumstances. Odysseus explains to Calypso one of the reasons why he must return home: “Yet, it is true, each day I long for home, long for the sight of home”
Selfish is defined by the Merriam Webster Dictionary as: “seeking or concentrating on one's own advantage, pleasure, or well-being without regard for others.” Even though it may appear that selfishness can help one succeed, in the end, it could prevent one from accomplishing his/her final goal. The Odyssey, an epic poem by Homer, translated by Robert Fagles, follows Odysseus, a well known and successful war hero from the Trojan War, on his journey back to Ithaca. Odysseus’ journey begins at year 10, after the Trojan War ends, and continues until year 20. Throughout these 10 years, Odysseus and his crew embark on many dangerous quests and encounter many obstacles, which test Odysseus’ skills as a leader.
In the epic story the Odyssey by Homer, Odysseus is returning from the Trojan war, and on his way home he finds many obstacles ahead of him. Odysseus is the ruler of Ithaca and he is trying to return home to his land. Many creatures try and stop him from achieving his goal of returning home, but he and his crew have to push through and get home. Odysseus portrays bravery and courage leading his crew through these tough challenges. Odysseus heroically leads his crew and himself through dangerous obstacles, but also foolishly endangers them during the journey home.
Greece and Troy were in a raging battle of bloodshed and death. In order to win Greece needed an intelligent leader who could lead them to victory. Their leader was Odysseus. The reason being that Odysseus has many qualities that make him a great leader. To begin, a quality Odysseus has is his cunning and strategic intellect.
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.
