The Amazing Leadership of Odysseus in Homer's The Odyssey

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The epic poem The Odyssey by the ancient Greek writer Homer takes us deep into the life of a man called Odysseus. As the reader gets to know Odysseus many sides of his character are exposed through the challenges he faces. Though he and his crew face danger and obstacles every step of the way Odysseus’s character hardly changes. The entire book Odysseus longs to see his wife but he is a good man and a courageous leader. When the times get tough, the tough gets going and that’s exactly what Odysseus did when the Trojan War started. On the journey back Odysseus shows how much courage he really has.” Only the ghost of Great Ajax, son of Telamon, kept his distance, blazing with anger at me still for the victory that I had one by the ships that time I pressed my claim for the arms of prince Achilles.” – (P. 267, L. 620) In this segment Odysseus just beat the ghost Ajax for Achillies armor. Odysseus is courageous when he decides to fight Ajax for a set of armor. When Ajax died his spirit was still mad at Odysseus for defeating him. “ No ship of men has ever approached and slipped past, always some disaster, big timbers and sailors corpses whirled away by the waves and lethal blasts of fire.”- Circe, (P. 277, L 75) Odysseus explains the terror of the position that he is in; he chose the courageous path to sail just to save some time. To the right lies a giant whirlpool and to the left a cluster of jagged rocks. ‘You dogs! You never imagined I’d return from Troy so cocksure that bled my house to death, ravishing my serving women- wooed my wife behind my back while I was still alive! No fear of the gods who rule the skies up there, no fear that men’s revenge might someday- now all your necks are in the noose- your doom is sealed!”- Ody... ... middle of paper ... ... Friends, have we never been in danger before this? More fearsome, is it now, than when we faced the Cyclops? Did I not keep my nerve and use my wits to find a way out.” (P. 437, L. 120) Odysseus is telling his fellow companions to hold fast and to never give up because he is there to lead them. This reminds me of Jesus and his disciples. When Odysseus is competing in the games he takes charge and decides to compete. “ Up he sprang, cloak and all, and seized the discus” (P. 197, L. 215) Odysseus ends up winning against his competitors establishing his dominance. There where so many character traits that Odysseus displays that it was hard to choose only three traits. Through out the epic poem his character remains stead fast and noble almost the entire time. Homers masterpiece has survived thousands of years because just like Odysseus, a good story never dies.

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