Odysseus As A Leader In The Odyssey By Homer

In the Epic, “The Odyssey,” written by Homer, is the story of a man named, Odysseus, and his experiences and his exploration told through many episodes within the story. Odysseus, as the leader of his men, he lacks qualities of humility, empathy, and focus, which overall prevents him from being qualified as a good leader. In not having humility, it causes Odysseus to often lose focus. During the episode, “The Cyclops,” Odysseus and his men escape the island in which Polyphemus, the cyclops, was keeping them held captive, rather than thinking of his men and immediately leaving, Odysseus takes the time to gloat and risks their safety. (Cyclops. 502-505). An often occurrence of The Odyssey, is Odysseus’s ability to be humble and in being with out this attribute, constantly put his men in danger, lowering his quality of leadership.

Although in the episode, “The Sirens; Scylla and Charybdis,” Odysseus is aware of the prophecy that he had previously been told by Circe, of how he will be the only survivor in the end, and all of his men will die, Odysseus fails to warn his men. (The Sirens; Scylla and Charybdis. 718-724).By not communicating what he had been told to his men, it shows that he does not care about what his crew would think of the situation. Odysseus frequently loses focus of the task at hand and is unsuccessful in achieving the entire crews goal. When the enchantress, Circe, turns all of Odysseus’s men into pigs, except for him, rather than attempting to do something about it and free them from her hold on them, Odysseus does not utilize the plant given to him to weaken Circe’s power. Instead, Odysseus spends multiple seasons living under many luxuries and pleasing