Odysseus Downfall

When Odysseus was being a caring leader he wasn’t making his men do anything that he wouldn’t have done himself, so this shows that he wasn’t putting himself before an of his men who were doing good things for him. Along with that, Odysseus volunteered to do all of the “dirty work” so his men wouldn’t have to, which was nice for his men. While Odysseus was a good leader at times, he also had his downs as a leader. After Odysseus and his men made their great escape, they started taunting the Cyclops, which then came back for revenge, from Zeus, on his journey home. He and his men also took advantage of the hospitality that the Cyclops gave him and used it for their plan.

Once again, Odysseus puts his men in even more trouble, causing them to make their journey home longer. During his stay at Polyphemus, the cyclops' island, he saves some of his men from getting killed and eaten by him. Despite his great effort to be a good leader, his carelessness and arrogance made him get the best of him, making him a flawed leader. Acting like an amazing leader can be easy, but actually being one is rather hard. Odysseus, ruler of Ithaca, shows a prime example of this, although being strong and courageous his arrogance got to him, bringing him from being an amazing leader to being full of

Throughout the course of the Odyssey, Odysseus and his men find themselves facing the most difficult of challenges. Odysseus will be classified as a bad leader or not based on how he acted during these challenges. Once inspecting Odysseus' decisions and thought process throughout his journeys, he is an overall bad leader. Some of his bad leadership moments are when Odysseus refuses to leave the cave of the cyclops, not communicating with his men about the contents of the bag from Aeolus, and not warning his men about the danger of eating Helios' cattle. All of these situations resulted in the death of many soldiers and could have been prevented by Odysseus.

Throughout the novel, Odysseus shows leadership as he sails over the oceans with his crew. For example, the crew must pass the massive whirlpool Charybdis and the six-headed monster Scylla. The monster will eat six men per ship. Odysseus knows that six men will die if they pass too close to Scylla, or Charybdis will devour the whole ship and crew. Odysseus, the leader of the crew, makes a decision that will benefit his crews mission. He motivates his men by assuring “this danger is no worse than what we faced” before (12:227). His leadership creates a courageous atmosphere that triumphs the fear in the hearts of his men. His men row on, despite the fear, following his orders, and only lost the six men they had to lose to pass this section of road on the pathway to home. Another example of strong leadership is the exploration of the cave of the cyclops Polyphemus. The cyclops is an unknown population,

Odysseus in addition is very selfish with his actions towards his men. For example, when Odysseus insists on staying in the Cyclops habitat the see what he has to offer instead of taking some things and leaving. He put all of his men in danger without a good cause. Furthermore, Odysseus knew he would lose some of his men when encountering Scylla and Charybdis who were monstrous creatures waiting to try and take Odysseus and his crew down.

At the end of The Cyclops, Odysseus and his men escape the Cyclops cave and they are so close to making it back to the ship, but then Odysseus shouts, “Cyclops if ever mortal man inquire how you were put to shame and blinded, tell him Odysseus, raider of cities, took your eye.” (Homer 996). Odysseus and his men almost make it out without the Cyclops knowing who they are and Odysseus ruins it all because he wants to be noticed. Although Odysseus makes it out of the cave, he loses all of his men during the process. Odysseus’s pride is what causes the downfall of his men. This proves he is a lousy leader because he does not think of the danger he put himself or his men in by saying this so he just made a high risk and endangers his men. “Leaders also use social influence to inspire others to achieve a common goal.” (Comstock). Odysseus has a negative social influence on the situation with the Cyclops because he tells the Cyclops his name which then puts him and his men all in danger, just because he wants credit. This clearly proves Odysseus is a terrible leader. As a result, Odysseus appears to be an awful leader because he causes problems and only thinks about

Throughout Homer’s epic poem, The Odyssey, the character Odysseus constantly lets his hubris overcome him. His excessive pride served as a blessing and a curse, depending on the situation. Similarly to Travis Kalanick, the former CEO of Uber, Odysseus refuses to listen to advice and makes risky decisions based solely on his overconfidence, ultimately leading to his downfall. When examining Odysseus's actions and choices in the narrative, readers can understand the impact of hubris on his epic journey and the challenges he will face. Odysseus' hubris leads to negative consequences; his most notable account is during his encounter with Polyphemus.

In The Odyssey by Homer, Odysseus' actions and decisions in books IX-XII has shown that even though he is extremely clever and courageous, the great tactician's selfishness and sense if hubris often stand in the way of his success. First of all, Odysseus is exceptionally brave, he has experienced more than any mortal man should and will never cower away from a challenge. For example, Odysseus led his men on a dangerous endeavor in blinding the Cyclops Polyphemus. Odysseus vividly recalls how the monster viciously killed two of his crew, "Then he [Polyphemus] dismembered them and made his meal / gaping and crunching like a mountain lion" (9.316-17). Realizing he would likely be killed, Odysseus rallied his crew and blinded the horrendous beast without fear.

The epic, The Odyssey portrays Odysseus as a man of great respect and worth. Along with these great attributes, Odysseus is ill fated with the trait of arrogance, and brings death along with him wherever he goes, which conveys that his arrogance towards his men and his surroundings lead to the death of others. Homer uses Odysseus’s hubris to create a crestfallen mood, conveying that the arrogance of leaders will lead to the demise of others. Homer uses the incidents at the Cyclops Island to portray Odysseus as a man who puts himself above his men. Odysseus’ men were unwilling while they were trekking into the cyclops cave, but Odysseus “wishes to see the caveman.”

Another poor decision Odysseus made was sending half of his men to explore Circe’s island. While Odysseus knew nothing about this thickly wooded island, he still sent half of his men to explore it. Only one of his men came back, claiming a sorceress turned them all into swine. Odysseus is then forced to go search for his men, and ends up staying on the island for “many seasons.” If only Odysseus would have just left and went to a different island in the first place, none of this would had happened. Or, if Odysseus and his men had no other choice, they could have stayed by the sea shore and they would have been safe. Circe caused the men to be distracted for “many seasons” again delaying them from getting

In the Odyssey, Odysseus exemplified strong leadership and outstanding noble qualities. Like Achilles, Odysseus carried some flaws at the beginning of the story. A strong case can be made that his biggest flaw as a character was pride as it caused him unnecessary risks that only delayed his journey and possibly endangered his men. This is evidently shown when Odysseus and his crew wander around in Polyphemos ' cave. After the confrontation with the Polyphemos, Odysseus and his men escaped by stabbing Polyphemos’ in the eye while he was asleep. Once Odysseus and his men were safe on board on their ship, Odysseus took it upon himself to reveal his true identity and proceeded to taunt Polyphemos. At

Odysseus expects others to respect major Greek traditions, yet throughout the episode with Polyphemus, he violates the tradition whenever he feels necessary. Greeks believe that food crimes are some of the worst possible crimes people can commit. Since the Greeks equated meat to status, stealing meat meant robbing someone of their status. Odysseus does not respect this custom when he tries to steal the cyclops’ livestock, which is how he ended up trapped in the cave in the first place. Yet when Polyphemus eats some of the men, an act that cyclopses do not identify as wrong, Odysseus is appalled. “We flung our arms to Zeus, we wept and cried aloud, / looking on at his grisly work—paralyzed, appalled” (9.331-332). Odysseus expects Zeus to uphold this double standard by punishing the cyclops, who was merely acting on instinct, while condoning an intentional food crime.

Hermes helps him out and gives him a plan to help save his men. So our hero is saved by the god Hermes from a horrible fate. Still Odysseus is not content to sail on and leave the goddess behind (Odyssey 10:269-532). Here Odysseus lost sight of his goal, thinking he was in full control of the situation. Only after a full year has past does he even ask Circe to help them on their way and only at the urging of his crew. He forgets that it was only by the gods help that he was able to triumph over Circe. There was no other way he could have survived her magic. In a sense he is beat by her because he forgets his voyage home and wastes a year in tarring there. By forgetting the voyage he denies himself, a hero, and forgets his family and subjects in Ithaca. Exactly the same threat that the lotus eaters posed to Odysseus and his men. The temptation that Circe offers is a life of pleasure. Anything you desire: food, sport, beautiful women, anything at all. For a time Odysseus is taken in my her offer but thanks to his men he is able to break free of it and remember his home and family.

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.

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