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Odyssey lacks leadership
Odyssey lacks leadership
Odyssey lacks leadership
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Odysseus’ weak leadership skills become magnified over the course of his journey through his failures during each obstacle. For example, Odysseus has no control over his men who “were mutinous,/fools, on stores of wine. Sheep after sheep/ they butchered by the surf, and shambling cattle,/ [they were] feasting” (47-50). Although Odysseus knew that what his men were doing was wrong, he made no attempt to stop them. This laziness and lack of control cost him the lives of some of his crew. Secondly, Odysseus did not learn from his mistakes since, “when I cupped my hands I heard the crew in low voices protesting:/ ‘Godsake, Captain!/ Why bait the beast again? Let him alone’” (447-449). Odysseus let his anger and emotions guide him, throwing away
Odysseus lets himself and his men get trapped in a Cyclops’ cave where a number of men die (153, 312-316) Generally a true leader never allows his men to die for foolish and or unnecessary reasons. In this part of the text Odysseus allows his men to get trapped in a cave because he wants to wait to meet the owner of the cave which he was in. Hence, Odysseus is an awful leader due to the fact that he allows his men to die due to his own irresponsibility. Another similar instance is when he expects hospitality from the Lasitrygonês without even a shred of doubt that they would treat him well - even after making the same mistake with the cyclops’ earlier, both leading to the loss of many lives (168, 121-128). A great leader never lets men die due to their own error. In this case, Odysseus has entire benches worth of men die due to the fact that he did not learn from his earlier encounter with the cyclops. Thus, Odysseus is not as awe inspiring a leader as some may make him out to
I disagree with Anthony. While the captain can not always control his men, there are things that he did to create the distrust. Man, from a religious view, is a fallen species, thus sin, like greed, taunts him. Because Odysseus holds back knowledge from his men, specifically when he gives the wine of Maron to Polyphemus, he creates the distrust which cause them to open the bag of winds. Continuing from that, Odysseus does not inform his men of the sacrifice that must be made in the pass between Charybdis and Skylla; therefore, when Skylla engulfs 6 men, the trust is destroyed. Odysseus causes his own suffering because he dismantles the unity that is necessary when on a journey.
These two heroes have embarked from the same destination but on very different journeys. Whilst they are both Iliadic heroes at the start of their stories, they develop and adapt their manner towards the characteristics required of them to succeed. Before we judge them, it is necessary to determine our definition of a successful leader. A hero from the Iliad must be "a speaker of words and one who is accomplished in action", according to the horseman Phoinix (Iliad.9.413). A leader must have these primary qualities then, as he must lead by example, but to create the ideal we must add to this. The leader should rely on no others but in turn listen to sound counsel. He should be fair in his justice, in control of his situation and surroundings, keep his men abreast of the plan of action and reasoning behind it, remain calm under pressure and have compassion and understanding for his people. Thus his primary concerns should be the welfare of his people, their security and maintaining peace at all costs. His men, a good indicator of his leadership to us, should therefore give him loyalty, trust, and obedience, if the leader has led them suitably. The performance of the men is also important, and what they achieve under his direction is representative of his strength of leadership, though this must be compared with how they act without his presence. These measures can be seen as the important assets of a competent leader, though extenuating and uncontrollable circumstances must be taken into account, as we make a sound judgement of our two heroes.
Odysseus is a bad leader for the traits he upheld in the book which causes him twenty years to return home to Ithaca after the Trojan war. The three traits that makes Odysseus a bad leader are being dishonest, prideful, and careless. These traits causes his men to die, him suffering, and trouble. The trait of Odysseus being dishonest is a factor of why Odysseus is a bad leader. Odysseus is meeting with Tiresias (a blind prophet) to learn his future. In the future, Odysseus will be presented with two obstacles, going through Scylla (6 headed monster) or Charybdis (a giant whirlpool). Tiresias tells Odysseus to pick the path of Scylla, his exact words were “to have passed her without loss and grief; she takes from every ship, one man for every gullet.” Tiresias is telling Odysseus to choose the path of Scylla because that path will only result in
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
Impulsive actions prove to be very harmful to Odysseus. His decisions when he is escaping the cave of the Cyclops lead to almost all his troubles through his journey. As Odysseus flees the cave, he yells back "Cyclops - if any man on the face of the earth should ask you who blinded you, shamed you so - say Odysseus, raider of cities, he gouged out you eye." This enrages the giant, and he prays to Poseidon "grant that Odysseus, raider of cities, Laertes' son who makes his home in Ithaca, never reaches home. Or if he's fated to see his people once again, let him come home late and come a broken man - all shipmates lost, alone in a stranger's ship - and let him find a world of pain at home!" In the end, all these things the Cyclops asks come to pass. Odysseus also makes the mistake of ignoring Circe's command. Circe had said to forgo putting on fighting gear, or the monster Scylla will cause his crew harm. "But now I cleared my mind of Circe's orders - cramping my style, urging me not to arm at all. I donned my heroic armor, seized long spears in both my hands and marched out on the half-deck." Because he ignores those orders given by Circe, the six headed monster Scylla snatches six of the crewmembers and eats them alive.
When he and his men land on the island Aeolia, Aeolus gives a bag of powerful wind to aid Odysseus back home. Aeolus wants to be a part of, what is already, a legendary story among people everywhere. Not just any man could capture the attention and desire of a god, but Odysseus is known for his unique mind, and the cunning ideas he uses to get himself out of situations. Be that as it may, his audacious backbone can simultaneously be the root of the problematic positions he finds himself in. During the raid on the Cicones, it was Odysseus ' reckless audacity that caused the death of so many of his crew members. Had he simply kept his mind in the direction of the overall goal of returning home, he would not have experienced such a depletion of men and
First off, Odysseus’s determination leads to a strong sense of survival which allows him to complete a treacherous journey. Do not repeat! There are several complications which put Odysseus’s life on the line. In the ancient world, the god’s controlled everything and getting on their wrong side could result in major problems. At one point, Odysseus angers Poseidon’s son, making a grudge against the two. Poseidon promises his son he will do try his hardest to either kill Odysseus, or return him to Ithaka as an unknown man. It takes all of Odysseus’s will-power to respect the gods and prevent an untimely death. The pinnacle of Odysseus’s problem is his trip to Hades. Here, he literally faces death and must face several memories of people who he has affected in some way, shape, or form. Odysseus even has to struggle for things that should be granted to him free of harm. When he returns home, he expects to reclaim his wife, but first needs to fight off all her suitors. Secondly, Odysseus has problems controlling his men, and their insubordinate actions lead to serious ramifications. The best example of this is when they eat the divine cattle of Helios. He turns to the gods to fix his crews downfalls. Lastly, Odysseus survives by pe...
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
On the island of Polyphemus, Odysseus’ squadron works well together following the orders of their leader. He gives them encouragement, telling them “Courage - no panic, no one hang back now! (9.422), and they quickly and efficiently accomplish their goal. When Odysseus gives good orders and supports his shipmates, they are successful. Additionally, the same applies when the leader is frantic and not able to calmly give directions. Homer uses strong words like “rapid” and “terror” (10.140-42) to describe the situation at the Laestrygonians, emphasizing how crazed everything is. With the current state, Odysseus is not able to be a great leader, and that is reflected when most of his squadron dies. Whether or not he could have had control over the situation, it was not handled well and they all suffered for it. Lastly, there are times when his instructions are good and followed, but it is nobody’s fault that the plan goes wrong. In book nine when they visit the Lotus Eaters, Odysseus “sent/ a detail ahead” (9.99-100), which shows how he is good at taking authority. When the men get distracted, it is out of Odysseus’s hands, so therefore not a reflection of his leadership. Only his crew obeying the orders he gives can give an accurate representation of his leadership, which is a positive circumstance. Even the greatest leaders can have their downfalls, but
Leadership! One of the best qualities a person can have. Showing that you can be a leader is well needed for some people, Because it lets them know what kind of person you are. In two different stories we meet creon and oedipus, Both of them show leadership qualities just differently than one another. Their leadership qualities are what partially get them their title as kings.
Odysseus highlights leadership many times throughout his journey. For example, in “The Lotus Eaters” episode, Odysseus declares, “I drove them all three wailing, to the ships, tied them down under their rowing benches” (Homer 1049). This quote represents leadership because he knows it is his job to get the men back on the ship. He takes charge and makes sure no one stays on the island. He states that he “drove them all three wailing” to the ship, this displays that he has to bring three men yelling and fighting Odysseus back to the ship. The author uses the quote as imagery for the reader to imagine Odysseus as he fights three yelling men back to the ship, the
“Now when I cupped my hands, I heard the crew in low voices protesting... ‘Why bait the beast again? Let him alone! That tidal wave he made on the first throw all but beached us.’ I would not heed them in my glorying spirit, but let my anger flare and yelled: ‘Cyclops, if ever mortal man inquire...Odysseus, raider of cities, took your eye.’” (Homer 9. 406-410, 414-418) When Odysseus and his men are trapped in Polyphemus’ cave, Odysseus successfully makes a heroic deed when helping his men escape. He conceals his men within the sheep and flee to the ship where they board and begin to sail away. Consequently, Odysseus revokes his honorable accomplishment with his arrogance. When he taunts Polyphemus from afar, forgetting his duty as a hero and leader, his men beg him to stop. His first taunt nearly destroyed the ship, and the act of taunting presents Odysseus’ natural flaw of selfishness and arrogance which put his men in danger. A hero, even if he is flawed, should not overpower the hero’s purpose. In this case, the goal of the journey is to go home, but when Odysseus taunts Polyphemus, he dangers his men and derives from the purpose, favoring the relish of triumph. Odysseus refused to “heed” (Homer 9. 414) his men’s cautions in his “glorying spirit” (Homer 9. 414) gained from his heroic act of helping his men escape. In this instance, Odysseus loses his rational thinking, and instead of being cautions, he forgets his role and puts his men in jeopardy. Despite his men’s well-meant admonition, Odysseus rebuffs the advice, and his men do not have the power to stop him. Even if unintentional, he abuses his power of being a leader. Although heroes may have flaws, their flaws do not danger the people around them as well as the goal of the task. Most of all, it is not
Causing the many failures he has in his journey, Odysseus’s ineffectual leadership proves he is not worthy of being a hero. His lack of control is evident in several instances, one being when his men devour and slaughter the cattle on Thrinakia. Although Zeus chastises the crew and Odysseus for their unlawful deed, it is essentially Odysseus’s blunder that allows these happenings to occur. Odysseus contains the understanding that his crew does not chiefly consist of the most loyal and faithful men, and judging by their actions before, are not always known to abide by their leader’s commands. By knowing this, Odysseus should have expressed concern and initiative to ensure that his companions do, do as he advises, and doing a pleasurably activity like sleeping does not portray any of this. Based on reasonable, past occurrences, a true hero would be mapping out the possibilities of what can occur in the future and remain awake, willingly looking after his men to prevent such events from occurring. Not only does this display inadequate leadership, but a critical failure i...
The Greeks were both smart and creative people. Their religion consisted of extramundane beings who had powers that they used to explain unnatural events, such as storms. They worshiped powerful gods whom they put upon a pedestal. Many of the gods were described as powerful, attractive, athletic, just, and above all, the gods had a great amount of intelligence. So it makes sense that the Greeks would want to integrate that intelligence with their mythology and folklore. The Odyssey, written by Homer, is a substantial example of that. The protagonist of the story, Odysseus, was acute, imposing, and dominant, which was exactly what the Greeks believed was the perfect character.