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What Makes Odysseus A Leader

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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. In addition, he fails to show loyalty to his crew. Through his indecisiveness, numerous members on his crew perished. For example, Circe advised Odysseus to avoid fighting Scylla. Instead of listening to the advice, he prepared to fight the monster and, as a result, lost six of his best men. Another instance in which Odysseus
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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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956 Words | 4 Pages

Similarly, Odysseus doesn’t communicate any of the information given to him by Circe. Odysseus is given two choices by Circe for the first part of the journey, sail close two different rocks, Scylla or Charybdis. While it is possible for the crew to avoid misfortunes by sailing near Charybdis, avoid when she sucks down the black water, Odysseus chooses to sail near Scylla where there is no avoiding the deaths of at least six crew members (12. 99-111). Additionally, Odysseus doesn’t fully take the advice of Circe and uses weaponry, even though Circe warns him not to arm himself no matter the circumstances (12. 234-235). Odysseus’ inability to fully follow directions proves his large ego, and belief that he can do no wrong.

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232 Words | 1 Pages

Odysseus is a man, who has been working on going home for twenty years. He is a leader of his men, and will never give up until he gets to his goal or going home to his family. He is faithful to all his men, and he never deceived them. The faithful Odysseus is very hard working trying to help his men get home.

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290 Words | 2 Pages

Odysseus is extremely selfish by betraying his crew. His crew believes that Odysseus is trying to help them return home, when he is actually only concerned about himself.

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769 Words | 4 Pages

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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1881 Words | 8 Pages

Although Odysseus occasionally does something for the short-term benefit of his crew, he does not deserve their loyalty because he does not sincerely care about them, trust them, or listen to them. Even when Odysseus is in the middle of nowhere in a boat with his comrades and crew members for twenty years, he still manages to not care about them and think of his own life as more valuable than any of theirs. An example of this is when Odysseus sends his men into danger instead of being a leader and going first: “All I spied was a plume of smoke, drifting off the land. / So I sent some crew ahead to learn who lived there -- / men like us perhaps, who live on bread?”

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1138 Words | 5 Pages

Homer writes about Odysseus in The Odyssey , who is on his way back from Troy, and on his journey home, he made some poor decisions on the journey, which makes Odysseus a bad leader. Homer proves that Odysseus is a weak leader because of the egotistical decisions, and the lack of trust between his men that he made that cause the various trials that he puts his men and himself through, which inevitably lead to all his men’s deaths. Homer depicts Odysseus as a weak leader,

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571 Words | 3 Pages

Therefore Odysseus is a bad leader since he refuse to take advice, which consequently results in the detriment of his

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1764 Words | 8 Pages

At various times throughout the story, mainly through the trials, Odysseus made many decisions and forced his crew to go through many potentially lethal situations without preparing his own crew, or situations that were just a waste of time. This then leads to not only all of his crew being killed but the creation of many bad relationships. The first example of Odysseus mistreating his crew is when he and his crew went through the trails, “No more. Come, / let me tell you about the voyage fraught with hardship / Zeus inflicted on me, homeward bound from Troy...” 9.42-44.

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500 Words | 2 Pages

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.

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508 Words | 3 Pages

In this tale, the witch, Circe, tells Odysseus he has a choice between letting the six headed monster Scylla swallow six of his shipmates or he can risk it all by going against the whirlpool Charybdis. Instead of being honest and upfront with his men, Odysseus keeps this knowledge for himself. A great leader would have communicated the facts and rallied the troops, seeking insight and ideas so that all may survive. Odysseus looked to increase the odds of his own survival by cowardly choosing to battle Scylla knowing he would probably not be one of the six to get eaten.

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811 Words | 4 Pages

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

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709 Words | 3 Pages

Odysseus rises above most men when it comes to being a military leader, a good father, and a loyal husband. When one reads this prodigious text their imagination is immediately swept away to a place of hero’s, monsters, and gods. Odysseus, our main hero, is tiredly making his way home form the Trojan war. This war is an event that the book “The Iliad” was focused on, (also written by Homer). Unfortunately it was not as easy as it was originally suppose to be.

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2242 Words | 9 Pages

Although some may say that Odysseus deserves the loyalty of his crew, he does not because he puts them in the way of danger, is very inconsiderate, and usually follows other plans that people have gave him. While on his journey home,

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620 Words | 3 Pages

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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