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Odysseus Leadership Qualities

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The well known Greek warrior, Odysseus, king of Ithaca and traveler was the main character in the epic poem written by Homer, The Odyssey. He fought in the Trojan war, where he devised a plan to build an enormous wooden horse and hide inside it while the enemies brought it within their walls, foolishly thinking it was a gift. When the enemies had begun to celebrate their victory and become intoxicated, Odysseus and the other soldiers rushed out of the horse and slaughtered them all. His mother was Anticlea, who Odysseys last saw just before boarding his boat with his men to embark on his voyage. Soon after he left, she died of grief, longing for him as she thought he might never return home to her. She was reasonable in thinking this however, …show more content…

An example of these skills would be the fact that he never makes his men do anything he wouldn’t do himself: “as for myself I took my twelve best fighters and went ahead” (Homer 136). It would have been much easier for him to just send his men out on their own and stay safely on the ship. However, this was not the case as he bravely went alongside his men to lead them into the land of the giants. He also made sure to take great care of and protect the men he was responsible for: “I carved a massive cake of beeswax into bits and rolled them in my hands until they softened” (Homer 707). To protect his men from the songs of the Sirens, he rolled up some bees wax to make …show more content…

Those most noticeable being wisdom, leadership, bravery, and cleverness. Because of these traits, he was the only one who was able to survive the voyage and make it back home after twenty long years. When he finally returned home, he disguised himself as a beggar with the help of Athena and made a plan with his son to enact revenge on the suitors who had taken over his home. He passed Penelope’s test of stringing and shooting his bow, killed all of the suitors with the help of his companions and finally correctly completed Penelope’s last test. And so, he, his wife, son, father, and kingdom were reunited once

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In the Epic poem,The Odyssey, Odysseus is portrayed as a great leader and hero. In the poem Odysseus is a brave and noble leader who fears nothing. He also is very intelligent, who knows how to get out of tough situations without hesitation. Odysseus, “The Great Sacker of Cities,” is a hero because he... because why? Odysseus demonstrates intelligence throughout.

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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.

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Madam CJ Walker Madam CJ Walker was an important part of Black History due to her broadcasting her 1st hair care product, her school, and also her being the first African American millionaire. She was a entrepreneur and a great philanthropist. She made her fortune by creating and promoting a line of magnificence hair items for black women. She was inspirational to a lot of people.

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Gabe Gibson Mrs. Stone English 9 Period 5 February 16th 2023 Leadership Comparison Essay Two popular fiction stories are The Odyssey by Homer and O Brother, Where Art Thou by the Coen brothers. The two stories share a few things in common, one being that the main character is depicted as a great leader. While both men are leaders, Odysseus is smarter, stronger, and undeniably better than Everett in most realms of human endeavor.

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While Odysseus demonstrates that he’s strategic throughout the story, he also displays that he’s arrogant; however, these traits make Odysseus survive his journey. One of Odysseus’s positive traits is being strategic, As Odysseus is in the cyclops’s house, he pours the cyclops three bowls of wine to get him drunk & the cyclops drinks the wine. Homer, Author of The Odyssey, demonstrates that Odysseus is strategic by clarifying “Three bowls I brought him & he poured them down”(569). Odysseus & his crew being trapped brought the strategic trait out of Odysseus by Odysseus needing to do something to get out of the cyclops’s house or else he and his crew would have died. In addition to Odysseus being strategic he’s also very loyal, Homer, Author of The Odyssey, demonstrates that Odysseus is loyal by portraying “Put heart in me to eat & drink, you may by freeing my companions, I must see them”(1.92.93).

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Odysseus was not a strong leader and ultimately contributed to the destruction of his own men because he has a weakness of pride and lack of honest communication with his men. Pride is definitely a weakness that affects Odysseus' leadership. An example of Odysseus being overly prideful was when his men and himself were at the Cyclops' land. After Odysseus' plan successfully got him and his men back to the ship, he began to taunt the blinded Cyclops. This consequently leads him to reveal his identity.

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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.

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Usually, epic heroes share common character traits such as braveness, courage, and leadership. In Homer’s Odyssey, it is my belief that Odysseus is a hero because he demonstrated leadership qualities by leading his group to fight the suitors by being disguised as a beggar so that nobody would suspect him as being Odysseus. For example he fought the suitors, the three headed monsters, and a giant.

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In the book called The Odyssey by Homer, it mainly follows the story of a king of a village called Ithaca, hundreds of years ago-This man, is named Odysseus. Odysseus goes through many adventures after the victory of the Trojan War. However, this is where Odysseus, is not being as strong as a great war hero and a king as he should be. Although Odysseus was seen as a very strong person, physically and mentally, he lacks the appreciation and the care of his crew throughout the trials and didn’t think through many of his actions thoroughly and how they would affect not only his crew but people around him.

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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.

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He fought bravely in the Trojan war” (Homer). He also rescued his sailors from the gorgeous Circe. Homer also mentioned in “The Odyssey” Odysseus said “I prepared my people”. Even though he has great strengths, he has many weaknesses. Odysseus shows many weaknesses in the odyssey.

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In order to be defined as a leader, one must be loyal, decisive and able to take the initiative. According to this definition, Odysseus does not fit the profile of a leader. For example, he is loyal to neither his wife nor crew. When Odysseus visited Circe, he disregarded his marriage to Penelope. By engaging in intercourse, he violated the trust of his wife while she remained loyal, despite the urges from the suitors.

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The odyssey, an epic told by Homer in ancient greece, has many major themes following odysseus’s adventures. While Odysseus is sentenced to never return home after the Trojan War. He is overcoming challenges to return home to his wife penelope and his son Telemachus. Throughout the story major themes of loyalty, hospitality and vengeance are hidden within the plot. The story continues to show his heroic side with three major traits.

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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.

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