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Odysseus Leadership Qualities

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To describe a good leader takes more than a few words. To truly describe what a good leader is, it takes understanding and empathy, and the ability to imagine becoming dependent on someone else’s orders to stay alive. It takes a lot to be a good leader, and thought the term is seemingly vague, much is implied in those two simple words. The person must be strong and smart, but also humble and good at listening. They should be brave, but not so brave as to be blinded by their pride and make foolish decisions based on curiosity. When discussing Homer’s ancient epic poem, The Odyssey, the question of whether or not the story’s protagonist, Odysseus, fits into this category may weigh on the minds of readers. While Odysseus does have some good qualities, …show more content…

A good leader is one who can motivate his companions to follow directions in a number of different ways. While Odysseus believed in his men and made an effort to protect them, he lacked the ability to encourage them to follow his orders without question. He lacks the basic communication skills that would aid him in leading his men. A prime example of this is when Odysseus receives a bag of wind from Aeolus. He instructs the men not to open it, but fails to tell them why. “I’ll tell you when we reach Ithica, not before” (The Odyssey, 1997). Here, Odysseus taunts his crew by holding the bag before their faces and hiding the contents within from them, seemingly for no rational reason. Consequently, the crew members chose to see for themselves, assuming the bag is simply full of gold or silver. They are then set back from their destination. It wouldn’t have taken much from Odysseus to explain the situation to his crew, but instead he chose to leave them ignorant and put them all in danger. Another time that this happened was in Book 12, when Scylla made her strike against his ship. Odysseus chooses not to tell his men of the danger that the sea monster brings, fearing that it will cause a panic among the men. “As I sent them towards Scylla, I told them nothing, as they could do nothing” (Homer, Book 12). Some would say this was a wise decision, however, communication with the crew may have assisted in a faster escape, making it possible for more men to survive. Being caught off guard likely didn’t help with the getaway. The men had a right to know regardless of Odysseus’ opinion on the matter, and since he did not provide them the information, it makes him a poor

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A liar, horrible, and egomaniac leader Odysseus was. Odysseus was not a strong leader and ultimately contributed to the destruction of his own men. Odysseus would always lie and blame his crew for his actions. Odysseus did not tell the crew that when they crossed paths with Scylla, six mem from the crew would die. Odysseus wanted to explore a cyclops island and wanted to kill one.

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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.

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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.

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Odysseus was an effective leader for many reasons. One reason is that in Book ten his men had been captured by the sorceress Circe,and he took up the journey to find them. This shows his effectiveness as a leader because as a leader you have to be courageous and go into situations you would not normally have to. Another example is when he was in the house of death he said he would come back out and try to lead them home and that is exactly what he did. This shows effectiveness as a leader because leaders are supposed to be dependable,and he was there for them throughout the entire story.

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The Cyclops then cursed Odysseus and the men to Poseidon, making their journey home even more difficult. Another example was when the ship was about to go through the Sirens and Odysseus convinced them to leave his ears uncovered. Everyone,

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When he received the bag of winds from Aeolus his men asked him what was in the bag. Instead of him telling them that it's a bag of winds that would help them get home, he told them that it's a treasure. “what's in the bag captain treasure declared odysseus the best treasure present any host could have given to a weary traveler nobody touch it you hear” (28) His men did not listen and opened to check out the treasure that bag causing a storm that destroyed 11 ships and swept away Odysseus to the island of Laestrygonians. This shows why Odysseus is a bad leader because he needlessly puts his men in danger when he could have told them what was in the bad instead of telling them its treasure.

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When Odysseus and his crew flee from Polyphemus after blinding him, Odysseus “[yells] back with another burst of anger, ‘Cyclops–if any man on the face of the earth should ask you who blinded you, shamed you so–say Odysseus, raider of cities, he gouged out your eye, Laertes’ son who makes his home in Ithaca!’” (Homer, 9.558-562). When Odysseus is said to yell with a “burst of anger”, this indicates that he isn't in his usual state of mind, he is riled up and blinded by emotions which can cause someone to not think before they say act. This is unheroic of Odysseus because of how irresponsible it is to give his information out on a whim, especially with a crew of men that he needs to lead, he needs to set a good example. Some may argue that Odysseus shared his information because of kleos which can show how heroic he is for defeating a cyclops, however, instead of gaining kleos, he became an enemy of Poseidon, the father of Polyphemus.

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Would you feast on my companions?”(Homer 441). Due to this, his men were annoyed with him and he is portrayed as greedy since he wanted to taunt the Cyclops. Furthermore, Odysseus is a selfish person. When Odysseus and his men were going through the river, “{He}/ told them nothing, as they could do nothing” (Homer 663-664). Since Odysseus didn't tell his men they were going to die, he is a selfish person because of this.

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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

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The wise and clever Odysseus was ignorant to the peril of the situation that even his crew could distinguish all because he was eager to behold what a behemoth could offer a war hero like himself. In reality, Odysseus let his pride blind him to the

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Odysseus knew some of his crew would die when they had to sail past Scylla, but he took that risk. He refrained from telling his shipmates what was coming so that they would continue with the journey. Odysseus was self-centered, unlike Percy.

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I began my argument by beginning at the time that King Aleous provided Odysseus with all of the bad winds to make sure that he had the opportunity to have a safe trip back to his home in Ithaca. His men took it upon themselves to open the bag, thus exposing the cataclysmic winds which sent them back to Aeaea, the home of the witch goddess Circe. Odysseus ended up spending five years in Aeaea. Although Odysseus could have told his men what was in the bag, his men were responsible for them being in Aeaea for the time being all because they took it upon themselves to open the bag. . Odysseus was

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This relates to leadership because he is taking charge and is leading people by telling them what to do. Another example of leadership is when Odysseus is giving the men a pep talk before they fight Scylla, a six headed beast. The men are scared and he is encouraging them not to be scared. While in the cave Odysseus says, “Heads up lads! We must obey the orders as I give them.

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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

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If Odysseus never said this and just left since he was already in the clear it would have led to less problems in the

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