Odysseus As A Skilled Leader In The Odyssey By Homer

Being a skilled leader tends to be a difficult task. A leader can acquire an abundance of favorable qualities, but it only takes one harmful trait to diminish them. These poor attributes separate the best leaders from the ones that cause wreckage towards their followers. The Odyssey by Homer showcases these difficulties in an epic about a leader, Odysseus, trying to find his way back to his home. After Odysseus fights in the Trojan War, he needs to travel back to Ithaca where his wife and son are waiting for him. However, his journey takes longer than expected as he encounters many obstacles that set him off course for years. His crew deals with many dangerous situations that are sometimes even fatal. As these issues continue setting Odysseus

As Odysseus is retelling his story to King Alcinous in Phaeacia, he showcases his deceit towards his crew. After years of fighting and traveling to get back home, Odysseus encounters Aeolus, King of the Winds. Aeolus agrees to pack up all the winds besides the west wind in order to bring Odysseus and his crew home safely and quickly. However, Odysseus does not tell his men what is inside the bag, so the men’s curiosity gets the best of them. Odysseus explains to Alcinous that “[we] got so close in that we could see the stubble fires burning, and I, being the dead best, fell into a light sleep, for I had never let the rudder out of my own hands, that we might get home faster…thus they talked and evil counsels prevailed. They loosed the sack, whereupon the winds flew howling forth and raised a storm that carried us weeping out to sea and away from our own country” (Homer 118). Odysseus describes the fact that the men opened the bag only once Odysseus was asleep. This indicates that Odysseus’s

During their expedition, Odysseus’s crew comes upon an island of Cyclops where they meet a particular Cyclops, Polyphemus. After Polyphemus locks Odysseus and his men in his cave, Odysseus is able to trick the Cyclops into letting them out. Once Odysseus escapes, he boasts to Polyphemus, “Cyclops,/ if ever mortal man inquire/ how you were put to shame and blinded, tell him/ Odysseus, raider of cities, took your eye:/ Laertes’ son, whose home’s on Ithaca!” (Homer 970-974). Odysseus’s negligence is portrayed through his arrogance and the way he reacts towards Polyphemus. Even after Odysseus and his crew reach safety, Odysseus feels the need to brag to the Cyclops which showcases that he makes rash decisions. He even tells Polyphemus his title and where he is from which makes it very easy for the Cyclops to get revenge. Since Polyphemus has immense strength, he throws rocks to the boat that Odysseus’s crew is leaving on which puts the entire crew at risk. Polyphemus also gets aided by his father, Poseidon, in order to punish Odysseus. If Odysseus had just silently left without telling Polyphemus his name, the gods would have not been involved and Odysseus’s crew would not be in danger. Odysseus’s reckless decisions in this instance, threaten his crew and indicate that he is an unqualified leader. Furthermore, near the