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Character analysis of Odysseus
Analysis of odysseus character essay
Analysis of odysseus character essay
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More handpicked essays just for you.
Character analysis of Odysseus
Analysis of odysseus character essay
Analysis of odysseus character essay
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Odysseus: A Lousy Leader or a Terrific Leader? In the epic The Odyssey, written by Homer, Odysseus can be categorized as a bad leader because he is a bystander to preventable deaths of his crew members and exhibits poor authority amongst his group. Odysseus dismisses the possible danger of death he places his crew members in.
This shows the lack of obedience the men have and Odysseus lack of leadership. Leadership requires a person to lead a group of people and have people obey you, how can that occur if Odysseus men do not obey simple instructions. Furthermore, how can we consider Odysseus a hero if his commands are not followed by his men. Heroes orders are followed and pursued, but Odysseus wasn't. Nevertheless, heroes rules and commands are respected by their followers and it shows excellent leadership, yet this does not the speak to Odysseus.
Leaders come in all shapes and sizes, however, what gives someone the title of a good or bad is decided by the decisions they make and how those decisions affect others. Odysseus led the squadron of soldiers in the trojan horse and is a hero of the Trojan War and the king of Ithaca. Consequently, this gives him experience when it comes acting in difficult situations. This experience should guide him to choose correctly when being put in a tight spot.
As a leader Odysseus should be careful to do exactly what will benefit his crew the most. The lack of communication throughout the whole journey home will eventually lead to mistrust and betrayal of Odysseus by his crew. Following Scylla and Charybdis they reach the island of the god of the sun, and because of the crew’s spite for Odysseus they don’t follow his directions not to harm the cattle of the Sun. Just in the events of the journey back to Ithaca alone the reader can see how Odysseus’ inability to be a strong leader leads to the dismantling of a good relationship between him and his crew, which leads to a much more difficult trip. Odysseus’ inability to be a great leader for the group leads to a lot of conflict among the crew members.
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.
In both of Mary E. Fissell’s works, The Marketplace of Print and When the Birds and the Bees Were Not Enough, she discusses the circulation of medical books and their influence on the printing press, economics, and society’s view on household medical practices. While the former discusses medical books as a whole with divisions between authors and types of books, the latter focuses on a specific medical book - a sex manual - titled Aristotle’s Masterpiece. Fissell’s chapter in The Marketplace of Print heavily emphasizes the statistical evidence surrounding the circulation of vernacular medical books during the mid 1600s and 1700s, supported by textual sources from that time period explaining the influence of these books on English society as
Odysseus is a good leader in that he uses his wits to get his men out of trouble. As Odysseus and his men prepare to face Kharybdis and Skylla, his men are nervous, so Odysseus reminds them “‘Have we never been in danger before this? More fearsome, is it now, than when the kyklopes penned us in his cave? What power we had! Did I not keep my
However, examples within the literary narrative of the Odyssey leaves the discussion open with regards to his leadership. Thus, the question of leadership supersedes the topic of Arete. Was Odysseus the ideal leader or did he portray undesirable leadership tendencies? The examples that will presented will illustrate that Odysseus hubris, risk taking prowess, and at times unwillingness to follow instructions often placed his crew in danger as he journeyed Ithaca.
When Odysseus commands his men to go back to sea to voyage, he is a good leader because he is telling his men what to do. He is being a leader by protecting his men from the Ciccone 's army by leaving before reinforcements come. For example, when Odysseus and his men are heading to the sirens Odysseus states “you are to tie me up, tight as a splint” (Homer 1005). Odysseus is an admirable leader when he orders his men to tie him up and do not untie him because he is sacrificing himself for the good of his men. He is a leader when he does this because he lets his men not suffer the sirens while he has to.
During these situations, Odysseus gains leadership and tactical skills from fighting in the war in Troy, which costs him 10 years of his life and another 10 years of sailing out on the sea from Poseidon 's curse. Odysseus is therefore a heroic and efficient leader because he plans his moves ahead of time and is vigilant at all times to ensure his safety. Yet, though Odysseus possesses these heroic leadership qualities, his arrogance sometimes leads to his downfall and inability to lead. While Odysseus is a little arrogant, he can also be a great leader because he is able to trust his second in command, Eurylochus, and give him more power while he is away. When Odysseus is away from Circe’s island, Odysseus has a change of heart and suddenly wants to go back to Circe’s island to retrieve his crew.
Dwight Eisenhower once said, "The supreme quality of leadership is integrity." Odysseus displayed a lack of integrity and poor leadership by not fully communicating all the facts of the situation
Ultimately Odysseus can be a good leader but behind the scenes, he's not. He may of saved his men multiple times, but also got them killed them due to his neglect. He might be intelligent but really he tolerably manipulated his crew by saying things such as “don’t you want to go back to your home again?”. In closing, throughout the whole story, Odysseus progresses himself and designates many Greek
Odysseus was a man of great stature and strength; however, Odysseus was not only physically strong, but mentally strong as well (Olson). We can see Odysseus’ mental strength, or cunning, and bravery when he is in the den of Polyphemus and devises the plan to save him and his crew by calling himself nobody and stabbing out the cyclops’ eye. He also recognizes that he
Odysseus used bravery, cleverness, and determination to be a good leader and get his men through all these dangerous obstacles. Odysseus is a good leader as seen through his bravery, cleverness, and determination. Odysseus demonstrates good leadership through his use of bravery.
Odysseus displays a strong act of leadership by doing whatever it takes to get done. Whether it's fighting Sirens or a cyclops Odysseus does whatever he could to get his men past the obstacle. In the text it states “I carried wax along the line and laid it in their ears.” (Homer 12.