Odysseus As A Leader In The Odyssey By Homer

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It is arguable whether or not Odysseus is a strong leader. Many people believe Odysseus is a strong leader, others believe he is a selfish leader. Throughout his journey in The Odyssey, Odysseus makes countless mistakes. Odysseus is a leader but several times he can be very selfish and greedy. He is a selfish leader because he constantly puts his men in danger and kept secrets.

Odysseus is a selfish leader because throughout his journey he constantly puts his men's life in danger. Odysseus never really listened to his men. A strong leader should be able to communicate with others and take suggestions. One mistake that Odysseus made was when he arrived at the cave of the cyclops. In the Odyssey it states,"My men urged me to take some cheeses, lead the animal into our ships, and be off. I didn't listen to them. If only I had ! I wanted to meet the cyclops and receive the strangers gift from him"(Page 38). This quote not only shows how Odysseus put his men in danger but how he was greedy. He wanted even more than he could've had and he ignored his men. Odysseus then proceeded to brag about defeating the cyclops. Odysseus states "O Cyclops, if anybody asks you about …show more content…

On page 87 Odysseus says, " My men obeyed my word. But I did not mention Scylla and the danger we could not avoid. For I feared that my comrades would stop rowing from terror...while we were so concerned, Scylla reached forth and snatched six of my best men". This shows that Odysseus was not going to let anything get in the way of him returning to Ithaca. If his men made it back with him it was all good but if they didn't Odysseus wouldn't really care that much. He didn't warn his men of the danger ahead. He just let it happen. In the end all of Odysseus' men died. A strong leader would try not to just save him or herself but others as well. Odysseus clearly failed to accomplish

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