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Odysseus: A Loyal Hero In The Odyssey

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Did you know, Odysseus had slept with other women just to get home to his family! In the Odyssey, by Homer, there were two women who he faced during his journey home, Circe and Calypso, who had “compelled” him to sleep with him so he could finally leave. After all this happened, Odysseus was informed that 6 of his men were to die. Well, he never told them their destiny which was of them to die. He did all this because he didn’t want his crew to back out so he could get home. People argue that if Odysseus was loyal to his wife then he must’ve been a loyal leader because he protected his men. Being loyal to his wife doesn’t prove his loyalty towards his crew. He was a selfish, an unreliable, and an impulsive leader. Odysseus wasn’t a reliable leader for his crew because he wasn’t honest. In Book 10, he didn’t tell his men about the bag of wind which caused them to think that Aeolus handed Odysseus a bag of gold that he isn’t sharing with his crew, “Within sight of home, and while Odysseus is sleeping, the men open the bag, thinking it contains gold and silver.” This shows that his crew didn’t trust him. They opened the bag and caused the ship to bring them back to Aeolia. If Odysseus was honest with them then perhaps they would’ve been home earlier. In addition, Odysseus was told that it was written in their men’s destiny that they were to die. Though, Odysseus never told them. Odysseus wasn’t honest because he didn 't want his crew to run away or try to leave him

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