Odysseus, the legendary Greek king of Ithaca or the Hero of Homer's poem, “The Odyssey”. The god that never back downs from a challenge or repeatedly faces mythological creatures with ease. Also risking his life for the safety of his crew. For instance, Odysseus faces the Cyclops Polyphemus, travels to the Underworld, overcomes the temptation of the Sirens(singers), outmaneuvers the monsters Scylla(underwater monster) and Charybdis(sea monster), and leaves behind the beautiful Calypso(nymph). All these feats required a great amount of bravery and skill, two traits Odysseus was honored for in antiquity. These traits of Odysseus shows that he is loyal to his crew. For instance, in Odyssey nine, Odysseus refuses to leave the cave of the Cyclops, …show more content…
But I would not listen, though it would have been better, wishing to see the giant himself, and test his hospitality". This quote is reworded a tad bit, so you can understand the full meaning of what Odysseus meant in this saying. Sadly, this choice resulted in six of his men dying. In addition, in Odyssey of book ten, Odysseus does not communicate with his men about the contents of the bag he receives from Aeolus. Odysseus falls asleep, his men become curious, open the bag just when their ship was in sight of their homeland, and then they are blown back to Aeolus' land. Odysseus can be good and bad in certain situations, but some of his decisions can either end a disaster or he can triumph through the problems he has to deal with. But, the question is, is Odysseus seen to you as a good leader or is he perceived to you as a bad leader.
Knowing that Odysseus was seen as an epic and brave hero; he also has his flaws
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The others say that Odysseus is “dumb and oblivious”, when making decisions. Those people that disagree about what I have to say about Odysseus is society. Society has there own point of view of how they want to see things or in other words, a “perspective”. For example, society believes that Odysseus is a bad leader because he fell asleep and let his crew die from letting them eating the cattle. The public only focuses on the bad things he do and not really the good stuff he does. Like, saving his crew from sea monsters. Besides society’s opinions on Odysseus, I believe that Odysseus is an alright leader to me. The acts he makes are not always the most intelligent, but we know he is trying to do the right thing for himself and also for his team. If you were in the shoes of Odysseus during the time period of when he was there, what would you do to lead a group. Would you be a better leader than Odysseus or a bad one. My point is, there is no perfect leader when it comes to taking charge of a group, but I am not saying that you should be a bad one also. S In the end, I believe that Odysseus is a good leader overall, despite the poor decisions he made in the
A good leader should respect the people they’re working with, take ownership of their mistakes, and be trustworthy. Odysseus didn’t show most of these traits, Odysseus didn’t care about his crew as much as he should have. Percy Jackson showed great respect to his crew, he was close friends with the people he was working with which made it easier for them to get along and complete tasks together. Odysseus’ men betrayed him when they opened the bag of wind that blew them back home, if Odysseus had a good relationship with his crewmates, that wouldn’t have happened. Odysseus shouldn’t have treated his men the way that he did, Percy Jackson is a better leader than Odysseus in many ways.
Odysseus’s narrow-minded way of handling difficult situations by getting past the obstacle even if other people have to die along the way for his own survival make him an incompetent leader and an unfaithful husband.
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.
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.
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
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?”
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.
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 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.
However, in the Odyssey, Odysseus makes choices that both his crew and the reader find questionable. Although Odysseus has some positive attributes he is a bad leader for the following reasons he keeps secrets from his crew, he falls asleep at inappropriate times and is arrogant to a fault. Odysseus’s
Trapped against their foes, fighting to survive. The common problems while trying to fight for your life. In the book The Odyssey by Homer, the main character Odysseus has just began to return home from Troy after fighting in the Trojan war.
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.
Therefore Odysseus is a bad leader since he refuse to take advice, which consequently results in the detriment of his
“The Hero doesn’t Get the Reward; the Hero Pays the Price” (anon). One of the heroes who paid the dear price was Odysseus, a hero who fought in The Trojan War. Odysseus was the man who came up with the plan to build the wooden horse, ending the rigorous fight with it. Odysseus was going back home after earning the victory for his country, which he was king of one of the kingdoms -Ithaca-. But Odysseus faced trials that constrained him ten years late to arrive home.
Odysseus is an epic hero because of his bravery and confidence during every obstacle throughout his journey In Part 1 whie Odysseus is about to come across cyclops cave, he says “I brought along and victuals in a bag, for in my bones I knew some towering brute would be upon so soon- all outward power, a wild man, ignorant of civility. “ Odysseus is showing his bravery of not being petrified of what he might come across, like the cyclops. Odysseus has no intention of harming them, but he is not sure what their intention is. This example is important because not only does it show confidence in himself, he also shows confidence in his men. In Part 2 Odysseus also shows his confidence in his men in part 2 where Eurylochus says, “Are you flesh and blood, Odysseus, to endure more than a man can?