The Leadership Of Joseph And Telemachus In Homer's Odyssey

Becoming an excellent leader proves to be more difficult than it sounds. Achieving what would be considered, “exemplary leadership,” takes time. One man from Genesis 37 of the Bible, Joseph, shows three great examples of what a leader should look like. Another fictional man, Telemachus, from The Odyssey, shows similar qualities during his own life. Joseph’s leadership is built upon his character, commitment, and competence, and these same three qualities are seen in Telemachus. Looking at the first quality of Joseph’s superb leadership, character, one can see that Joseph faced many things that tested his character. One of which, was when he received two dreams, and chooses to tell his brothers. It was here that he shows poor character. He brags about how in his dream, his brothers’ “bundles all gathered around and bowed,” and that even the “the sun, moon, and eleven stars” bowed before him (Genesis 37:7,9). Of course, Joseph was not perfect, and this was a moment that he would be able to look

Starting with Joseph, he, throughout the process of being sold as a slave, and later being imprisoned for a false accusation, he remained committed and faithful to God. Because of Joseph’s faithfulness to God throughout his upbringing, he was shown favor by God when he was thrown in prison, and was put “in charge of all the other prisoners and over everything that happened in the prison” (Genesis 39:22). Telemachus shows commitment to his father, even though it appears he has never met him. He tells Minerva “My mother…tells me I am son to Ulysses,” which shows readers that he has never met his father before, yet his thought process towards his homeland are parallel to his father’s beliefs (The Odyssey 15). Telemachus has the same commitment as Ulysses does, to keep Ithaca free from the suitors that want to marry his mother,