Odysseus:A Bad Leader? “The art of leadership is saying no, and not saying yes”(Tony Blair). In the Odyssey, Odysseus is the captain of a large fleet trying to get back to their home, Ithaca. Odysseus, with his crew, had to go through many obstacles to return to Ithaca. Odysseus was a bad leader because he was selfish, arrogant, and couldn’t control his men. First of all, Odysseus was very selfish during their journey back to Ithaca. For example,“We lit a fire, burnt an offering, and we took some cheese to eat; then sat in silence around the embers, waiting”(Homer 219-222). If Odysseus took the cheese and left, his men would not have had to dealt with Polyphemus. He put himself before his men because he wanted a gift from the cave owner. Odysseus was also selfish when he sailed near the lands of Sirens.“Steer wide; keep well to seaward; plug your oarsmen’s ears with beeswax kneaded soft”(Homer 669-671). Although Circe told Odysseus to steer clear of the area, Odysseus wanted to be known as the man who survived a Siren’s song. He put his own men in danger just because he wanted to become famous. Odysseus was also very arrogant to think that he could get past the Sirens. There was no doubt that Odysseus was an arrogant man. You can find this in …show more content…
Even though many of his men seemed wary of their journey, Odysseus was always determined to make it back to Ithica. When Odysseus’ ship washed up on the island of the Lotus Eaters, all of Odysseus’ men ate the Lotus flowers to escape from the hardships of life, but Odysseus refused. “I drove them, all three wailing, to the ships, tied them down under their rowing benches, and called the rest”(Homer 211-213). Instead, Odysseus tied up his men and dragged them back to the ship so they could get back on their journey home. Even though it would take 20 years to get home, Odysseus always showed great
Odysseus was an effective leader for many reasons. one example was when Odyssey use his mind to get his men’s out of hades. one example was when he help his mans get to safety. he was an Effective leaders and in this part of the story,Odysseus men were scared of of the Hades, and they did not think Odysseus would make it back,so he told them not to worry, i will make it back and he tells them to leave if he doesn’t make it back to the ship. another example was when Odysseus and his men were stock in cave with the one eye monster.
Not only was he the things described, but he was also a very boastful man, which isn’t a very good characteristic for a leader like himself. This shows that Odysseus was a good leader at times and he was a bad leader too, which
If he had not spoken up about how cunning he was or resisted the urge to ridicule Poseidon's son, Odysseus would have made it back to Ithaca much faster and would not have lost six of his men; Odysseus' ease in giving into his irascibility puts him at a considerable disadvantage when returning to Ithaca. Although Odysseus’ kleos has created some obstacles, it also benefits him in subtle
People are not heroes or villains; it is their actions that determine who they are. Odysseus was a man born with potential to be an impactful and confident hero, however when faced with adversity Odysseus failed to make the right choices and ultimately became a murderous and disgraceful leader. Although it is true Odysseus, in the end, returned home to Ithaca, Odysseus made many disgusting decisions on his way that not only harmed many, but could have been avoided if he thought of others before his own wants. In Gareth Hinds’ adaptation of The Odyssey, Odysseus is portrayed as vicious by being directly and indirectly characterized as arrogant, weak, and unfaithful. Odyssesus had many great character traits, but his arrogance overpowered them
In the “Odyssey”, Odysseus goes through obstacles throughout the book that a normal man couldn’t subside. One example is in book 9, his main obstacle that he is trying to face is to escape from being held hostage in a cave by a Cyclops better known as Polyphemus. Odysseus is a archetypal hero, he is also a role model, with an ambition to get to his homeland Ithaca. He goes through resisting temptation and using his intellect and physical strength to get him there, no matter the obstacle nor the negative flaws that he faces. Odysseus put himself and his men in that situation by being curious and wanting to know what kind of land his ship and the winds led him to. This was selfish of him because it cost him some of his men, but a leader and hero has to play that role and some lives will be dealt with on the way. Odysseus says, “The rest of you will stay here while I go with my ship and crew on reconnaissance. I want to find out what those men are like, Wild savages with no sense of right or wrong Or hospitable folk who fear the gods” (Homer 429). Saying this quote alone makes Odysseus a humble man due to the fact that not even a piece of land is going to slow him down on his journey back home.
Odysseus from the Odyssey by Homer is a bad leader. He always makes bad decisions. When he was escaping from the giant's cave he stopped and yelled at Polyphemus, who then threw a huge rock at the boat almost hitting it. They could have just left and not said anything allowing them to get away quicker. Odysseus could have just hunted in the open away from the cave or fished away from the island instead of risking the men's lives that went with him on to the island.
Peter Drucker said, “Effective leadership is not about making speeches or being liked; leadership is defined by results, not attributes.” Homer proves this point in The Odyssey, which is an epic poem, and the main character is Odysseus. Odysseus is on his way back from the Trojan War and everyone returns back to Ithaca beside him, he is being held against his will, by Calypso, on Ogygia. He soon will be faced with problems that come about all because of himself. Some people like Odysseus are not fit to be a leader because he is arrogant, foolish, and a liar.
In The Odyssey, by Homer, Odysseus goes through this epic sea voyage that takes him nearly 10 years. Along the way, Odysseus faces many challenges he has to overcome in order to reach Ithaka, his home, but all his crew members end up dying because of Odysseus’ actions. Like the quote said by the Prophet Muhammad, Odysseus isn’t able to reach home quickly because of his arrogance and other flaws to his personality. Many readers will argue that Odysseus is a hero for returning home heroically, but Odysseus has many flaws to his personality such as his arrogance, curiosity, and selfishness, which causes violence and unwarranted death along Odysseus’
By putting his men in constant danger, resulting in all of his men dying, Odysseus demonstrates the hallmark of a dreadful leader. In the episode The Cyclops, Odysseus leads his men into the cave of polyphemus looking for a fight, because polyphemus is the child of Poseidon. In the process of looking for a fight he loses quite a few men to the Cyclops, and after escaping continues to egg polyphemus on by yelling in triumph at the Cyclops. Which almost leads to the crews demise. After the Cyclops defeat Odysseus boasts, “‘ O Cyclops!
“‘Cyclops- if any man on the face of the earth should ask you who blinded you, shamed you so-say Odysseus, raider of the cities, he gouged out your eye. Laertes’ son who makes his home in Ithaca”’ (9. 558-562). Had Odysseus not yelled at the Cyclops saying “say Odysseus, raider of the cities, he gouged out your eye” Poseidon would not have released his wrath on Odysseus and he would have come home to Ithaca much sooner but Odysseus’ ego ruined his homecoming. Odysseus could not let himself leave without telling the Cyclops that he is great. Odysseus could not let himself do something great and have the accomplishment go unnoticed. His ego gets the best of him even at the expense of those around him. A truly great person would stay humble and put their life at greater risk than the ones of those around him. Another way Odysseus reveals his vainglorious character is his disregard for people who try and help him. Odysseus is stranded in the ocean with no hope of survival when he meets a nymph, Ino, who
In the Odyssey, Odysseus is quite the legend known to people, whether you are high up in the sky with Zeus, or deep in the ocean with Poseidon, everyone knows Odysseus. In the epic poem, the Odyssey told by the one and only Homer, the brave, the godlike human, Odysseus is finding his way home after the big battle victory against the Trojans. This story is about his travels home and how he got caught up in other business. Let’s just say he stabbed Poseidon’s son, had his crew turned into pigs, faced a six-headed monster and whirlpool, and that is to say the least. He may as well be on America’s most wanted list with all the trouble he was causing. Even though Odysseus is a troublemaker, he has multiple great characteristics of a leader. Odysseus, when it comes to his crew and family, is confident, compassionate, wise, and always knows a way to get out of any problem.
Odysseus is very rude with his action. he always thinks he knows everything. Odysseus behavior wasn't really that nice when the wooers took over his house. It seemed as if Odysseus wanted revenge for the wooers. “ Now that goodly Odysseus hath wreaked vengeance on the wooers, let them make a firm covenant together with sacrifice, and let him be king all his days, and let us bring about oblivion of the
Firstly Odysseus is seen as arrogant when his men try to stop Odysseus from yelling at Polyphemus after escaping. He will not listen to them. Instead he “[lets] [his] anger flare and yell[s]… (283). This conflict shows a lot about Odysseus and how he is
Odysseus’s arrogance is shown throughout the poem, but it is clearly shown during his time with a cyclops named Polyphemus. When Odysseus and his men enter a dangerous cave because of their leader’s foolish curiosity and meets Polyphemus, Odysseus says “It was our luck to come here; here we stand,/ beholden for your help, or any gifts/ you give-as custom is to honor strangers,” (256-268). Here Odysseus is practically demanding that the cyclops treat him and his men with courtesy just because he is a guest. His arrogance and pride makes them stay with the dangerous cyclops even though they had a perfect chance for escaping from cyclops at the very beginning before the conversation even started. If only they quickly left with some cheese or nothing at all, Odysseus wouldn’t have lost so many men. Because of Odysseus’s arrogance, six of his men were eaten by the cyclops. Another example when Odysseus arrogance is shown was just
Throughout The Odyssey, Odysseus has shown various qualities of a weak leader. For one, Odysseus taunts Polyphemus unnecessarily. This leads him and his men being “cursed” to never return home or to kill all of Odysseus’s men. This shows Odysseus is a bad leader because he is excessively prideful and egotistical. He often lets those traits make decisions for him, and this causes poor fortune for him and his men. Another example of Odysseus being a bad leader is when he accepts the fate of his men instead of trying to find a loophole that would save them. Along with his crew’s fate, his decision to listen to the sirens was also a foolish decision. There could have been a lot of time saved if his men were not preoccupied with keeping Odysseus