In the classic poem and plays Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare, Oedipus the King by Sophocles, and The Odyssey by Homer, the main characters are leaders with differing successes. Julius Caesar gets killed by his own "friends", Oedipus gouges out his eyes, and Odysseus faced many setbacks, but managed to get home. All of these classical heroes had one thing in common. This was that they tried to lead by dominance. In Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare, Oedipus the King by Sophocles, and The Odyssey by Homer, all of the heroes attempt to lead their people through dominance.
Firstly, in Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare, leadership expresses itself as dominance. The first way that leadership presents itself in Julius Caesar is through the dominance of the common people. In the first lines of the play, Marullus, a man that is in the upper class tells the people to; "Be gone!/Run to your houses, fall upon your knees, / Pray to the gods to intermit the plague / That seeds must light on this ingratitude." Here dominance leads the pleabians into doing what Marullus wants to do. In addition, dominance rules over the common people when Mark Antony uses his speech to control the actions of the plebeians; "I will not do them wrong; I rather choose / To wrong the dead, to wrong myself and you, / Than I will wrong such honourable men"(III.ii.145 Shakespeare). Here Mark Antony, using obvious innuendos, leads the people of Rome to believe that if they agree with Brutus and Cassius they will be wronging the dead, Mark Antony, and themselves. Mark Antony then uses this fire that he kindled to lead to people into mutiny. In this case, Mark Antony uses his speech to dominate the feelings and ultimately the actions of the common peop...
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...uations, eventually killing all of them. For example, when Odysseus dominates the actions of the crew, and leads them into killing the second of the sea monsters, killing the majority of his crew for no reason other then pride.
In the epic, and plays Julius Caesar, The Odyssey, and Oedipus the King leadership is expressed through dominance. Julius Caesar was eventually stabbed for his dominance of his people. Oedipus ended up in shambles gouging out his eyes by attempting to dominate his fate , and Odysseus arrives home, but at the cost of all of his crew, through his acts of complete and utter dominance of those around him. Though many of the classical heroes showed their leadership through the dominance of other's and their ideas, all of them ended up in bad shape. This is a clear message for everyone reading these works that dominance is not the way to lead.
Leaders should also possess confidence or faith, in themselves and in others. Odysseus is a great example of a confident leader because he never gives up on himself or his men. “More fearsome is it now, than when the Cyclops penned us in a cave?...Did i not keep my nerve, and use my wits to find a way out for us?” Odysseus inspires and gives his men a boost of confidence in themselves whenever they lost their oars at sea.
Odysseus dealt with his disobedient crew. After an already difficult journey, Odysseus and his crew arrive at Aeolis, where the king Aeolus offers him wind in a bag, which had enough wind to send Odysseus’s ship back home to Ithaca. While Odysseus sleeps, the crew conspires, believing that the bag contained treasure, “Aeolus has lavished these gifts upon him. Let 's have a quick look, and see what’s here, How much gold and silver is stuffed in this bag” (Homer p.142). The crewmen opened the bag and the winds rushed out, taking them back to Aeolis’ island. Due to their curiosity and disobedience, the crew adds years to the journey. But the crew does not learn from the mistake, and the next time they disobey, the consequences were fatal. When they arrive one Helios’ island, Odysseus forbids the crew to consume the cattle of the Sun God. “But swear me a great oath, every last man: If we find any cattle or sheep on this island, no man will kill a single cow or sheep. In his recklessness, but will be content to eat the food immortal Circe gave us” (Homer p.186-87). But while Odysseus is gone, the crew disregards his instructions and feasts one Helios’ cattle. Their consequence was Zeus destroying the ship and the crew, leaving only Odysseus alive. Odysseus wishes to go home, but he cannot control his men’s ignorance. The crew’s disobedience prevents Odysseus from achieving his
Throughout Homer’s epic poem, The Odyssey, the reader or viewer has the opportunity to see the story’s main protagonist make leadership decisions, and take actions, that range from critical to minor in terms of importance. But the fact is that Odysseus is a leader. And that is the key thing to keep in mind no matter how you experience the poem. Inevitably, when you are talking about leaders, the questions arise: is he or she good or bad? What is the metric and what is your method of evaluation? In this case, we’ll look at Odysseus’ performance through a modern leadership lens, while keeping in mind that Homeric Greek culture might have motivated him to act differently than he would have today.
Would you rather have a selfless leader who will try his best to help you and keep you alive or a selfish, ignorant leader who thinks he can get whatever he wants? You would choose the selfless leader because who would want. Someone who is selfish and that exactly what Odysseus is. In Homer’s The Odyssey, there is a very bad leader, Odysseus.
Leadership can be defined in a myriad of ways; but for the purpose of the question, it is but not limited to the affect someone who takes charge of a group of people with authority or rank; to be an influence to those who look to the leader. In the epic poem, “Beowulf”, there are two different views on leadership based on their leaders {i.e. King Hrothgar and Beowulf). With King Hrothgar, he accepted the help of Beowulf to fight in order to defend the people of the Herodot, “Beowulf my friend/fight for us” (457-458). Due to the understanding of his age, King Hrothgar shows humility and admirable stance, adapts to someone who admires him, allowing Beowulf to fight for the people of Herodot. Beowulf on the other hand, shows his leadership by taking the initiative and offering his aid to King Hrothgar’s people, to fight the demon Grendel, who is terrorizing the people. This leader...
The giant understandably refuses to show them any hospitality and begins to devour them one by one. Through this chaotic encounter the consequences of Odysseus’s bad leadership skills materialize, and we
...is own benefit, both in wealth and reputation, in mind. Odysseus will do anything to protect his image as a great and wise leader, including lying and falsely accusing his own men and, in desperation, even the gods. While Odysseus and many readers of The Odyssey regard him as an admirable and selfless leader, he demonstrates that he is inconsistent with thinking of anyone besides himself. Furthermore, his hubris prevents him from recognizing his own carelessness as a leader and eventually results in the crew’s tragic deaths. Odysseus becomes blinded by his own admirable qualities and successes in war and fails to address effectively both the obstacles at hand during his journey back to Ithaca and the well-being of the men under his command. While many factors contribute to the failure of Odysseus as a leader, at the heart of them all underlies his fatal pride.
In books 9 and 10, Odysseus interacts with many ‘monsters’ that attempt to stop him on his journey. The Cyclops and Polyphemus represent the human quality of greed and selfishness. Polyphemus wanted Odysseus and his crew for himself, as a result, he trapped them in his cave. In book 9, Homer writes “...ripping them limb from limb to fix his meal” in this quote he is describing how the Cyclops was eating Odysseus’ men (9.328). Also in book 10, Aeolus who although he can be considered a ‘monster,’ it can be said that he is merely a reflection of superstition and generosity. This is because he was generous to Odysseus, when he helped him the first time, and Zeus, which is how he became king of the winds. When Odysseus came back Aeolus said, “‘away from my island-fast-most cursed man alive! It’s a crime to host a man or speed him on his way when the blessed deathless gods despise him so’”
Every empire, dynasty, government, regime etc. has consisted of both good and bad leadership. This directly affects the society in which they oversee and/or control. The infamous Roman Empire experienced its share of triumphs and depression through its leader’s actions. Run as a monarchy, the kings of Rome had various ways of implementing their authority. Many of them chose to rule based on their interests and desires while others catered to the welfare of Rome’s booming population.
Arrogance has been the downfall of many great leaders including Odysseus. Examples of Odysseus’s arrogance are clearly discernible at the Cyclops’s island. “Here we stand, beholden for your help, or any gifts you give – as custom is to honor strangers. We would entreat you, great Sir, have a care for the gods’ courtesy; Zeus will avenge the unoffending guest” (Homer 900). This exhibits Odysseus’s arrogance as he threatens a much stronger foe with the god’s power, not his own. “Cyclops, if ever mortal men inquire how you were put to shame and blinded, tell him Odysseus, raider of cities, took your eye: Laertes’ son, whose home’s on Ithaca!” (908). This is another illustration of Odysseus’s deadly ego. Despite his crewmate’s suggestions, he taunts Polyphemus, almost
Odysseus is a weak and inadequate leader because he fails to earn the respect of his men time in and time out. Odysseus’ men attempt to steal from him and unknowingly unleash the bag of winds that was given to Odysseus by Aiolos (166, 49-550). A great leader has the respect of his men. Odysseus’ men disrespect him in this excerpt by attempting to rob Odysseus. Therefore, Odysseus is not an adequate leader since his men disrespect him by stealing from him. Also, at a later page in the book, one of his men refuse to follow Odysseus into danger and tells Odysseus, “You cannot return, I know it” (173, 293). A skillful leader has the
Sears Holdings is a company in transition. Now, faced with adversity and the threat of bankruptcy looming its leadership has come under scrutiny. “Great leaders not only have drive; they want to lead. Also important is a high need for power, a preference to be in leadership rather than follower positions. A high power need induces people to attempt to influence others, and sustains interest and satisfaction in the process of leadership. When the power need is exercised in moral and socially constructive ways, rather than to the detriment of others, leaders inspire more trust, respect, and commitment to their vision (Bateman, pp 399, 2007).”
There are four styles of leadership, the first is the autocratic leader. This leader makes all the decisions and the followers have no freedom to disagree. For example, musicians in an orchestra. Another leadership
A well-respected, honored leader is a person that everyone strives to be. It is a type of person that everyone can look up to, try to emulate, and look in times of distress. When Beowulf decides to fight the dragon many thought he made the right decision for himself, but he was no longer able to defend his people which he knew it was time to pass on the leadership. Beowulf had no greed and did not desire any gold or riches. Also Beowulf shows great leadership in many ways by taking risks, and never fearing death. Beowulf 's first act of leadership in the poem is when he offers to fight Grendel unarmed. This is an example of leadership because he is standing up above everyone else, when all the other men are scared to. While all the other men are fearful and worried about Grendel attacking, Beowulf is able to fearlessly lie down to await the arrival of Grendel. “So Beowulf’s followers rode, mourning their beloved leader, crying that no better king had ever lived, no prince so mild, no man so open to his people, so deserving of praise.” (66) Beowulf is willing to risk his life for stranger. His leadership is also shown through his action in the poem and the movie. Beowulf’s last example of leadership is how “Beowulf arose, with his men around him, ordering a few to remain with their weapons, leading the others quickly under Herot’s step roof into Hrothgar’s presence.” In this quote Beowulf is standing up above everyone else, when
What is leadership, and how do we attain the best and most effective leaders? These are questions that are as old as civilization itself. Bass (1974) wrote that, “from its infancy, the study of history has been the study of leaders” (as cited in Wren, 1995, p. 50). Since the study of history in the West is commonly held to begin with Herodotus of ancient Athens, it is not surprising that we should examine the historical views of leadership through the eyes of two titans of Greek thought: Plato and Aristotle.