When Odysseus started to dig in the eye of the Cyclops everyone knew that he is the ultimate leader. No one thought that Odysseus would surprise them again with his great leadership, but he did. He put everyone under the Cyclops’s beloved sheep to keep them from getting eaten. Every man on that day will remember Odysseus’s leadership. But as they sailed away they saw the true meaning of Odysseus, arrogance, but they sailed off away from trouble.
I tugged and the bucket slowly but surely made its way up the side of the boat. I sat it down softly not wanting to distract the men. I dunked my crimson hands in to the old sea water, instantly the water was red. Captain Bligh spoke without even turning his head.
“May I have a turn, oh Lord Great?”
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The crew starts to row, their arms moving at record speed. Soon we were away from Scylla and began to grieve the men we had lost. We began to hear the low rumble of Charybdis. The boat tips sending each man into the deep, dark scary mouth of Charybdis except me as I manage to grab hold of the side of the ship. Staring up, one man stands safely alone at the top of the ship, Bligh. He steps on my hands, the only thing keeping me from falling. As I start to descend he whistles and down comes Scylla. It bites hard on my legs and immediately I pass out from the heat shooting through me. I awake; I feel a sharp pain in my legs. Looking around, I see the big and nasty Scylla dead but I also see all of my crew members without heads or half their bodies chewed off. There are twelve swords stabbed into the bloody body of Scylla. I peer down at my own legs beginning to scream when I see nothing; I have no legs. “I have no crew, no legs. What am I going to do?” I whimper. Even though my ship is ruined, a smile comes to my face as an idea pops in my head. I grab my pocketknife and army crawl to a piece of wood. It was wet but still firm so I began to carve, carving for hours upon hours until I had new legs. Again I army crawl over to the men and take two belts using them to tie on my wooden legs. I try to walk, falling over and over again. After three straight days of practice I became tired and hungry like any human being. Working up courage, I ate Tim and say to myself, “Now I am fueled.” I build a tiny boat filling the holes and broken areas with Scylla blood which was gooey and sticky, just like glue. Now came the real challenge; to make a long fat spear out of the driest pieces of wood. I sharpen the spear for each man that died trying to save me and of course I made it sharper for Bligh. That ugly skunk betrayed me and his crew! “I will get that ugly skunk; he will wish he never met me!” I yell and scream for all the men that died
The Odyssey, an epic poem written by Homer, has many characters, but the main character is Odysseus, king of Ithaca and hero of the Trojan War. Odysseus is a strong character and is protected by the Greek goddess, Athena. The Odyssey is the story of Odysseus, great journey home from the Trojan Was, but he makes many decisions that many people today consider unjust or unethical.(Encyclopedia Britannica) He makes these decisions all in the effort to get home, and in self defense. That is why Odysseus’ actions make him a primarily moral and ethical driven character, rather than a political and power driven character.
The Commander of the division to which I belonged, as soon as soon as we were on board the ship, appointed me to boatswain, and ordered me to go to the captain and demand of him the keys to the hatches and a dozen candles. I made the demand accordingly, and the captain promptly replied, and delivered the articles; but requested me at the same time to do no damage to the ship or the rigging. We then were ordered to ...
Although some could possibly call Odysseus, the protagonist of Homer’s The Odyssey, a great leader, the fact that he fails to earn his men’s respect, endangers his men’s lives repeatedly and allows them to die due to his own selfishness states otherwise.
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.
Our boat sludged onward towards the team’s tent. The only sign of life came from our stroke seat who feverishly refreshed the results.
Although many of Odysseus’s characteristics are those that many people strive for, his overconfidence is one flaw in him that many people should learn from. In almost every story in the Odyssey, the reader gets yet another example of Odysseus’s pride. Whether it is insulting a God, making fun of a dangerous monster, or asking other men to write poems about him while he is in disguise, the reader realizes that Odysseus is, in fact, an overconfident madman, and it is this overconfident madness that hurts Odysseus in the future, and is what causes him much pain and a very treacherous journey home.
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. Odysseus does many things to make himself a bad leader. He doesn’t tell his men many things, he isn’t respectful to the gods or his wife, and he is constantly putting his men in danger just so he can go home. Odysseus is a selfish leader and only thinks about himself. Although he may have good intentions for himself by going home to see his family and the rest of his kingdom, he is a bad leader.
Odysseus displays his desire for glory through his careless actions during his encounter with the Cyclops Polyphemus. The desire for glory Odysseus displays is shown through the words he speaks to Polyphemus. He is a clever character but makes rash decisions that affect the outcome of his original goals and intentions. While Odysseus is trapped inside of the cave of the Cyclops, he begins to taunt Polyphemus. “I called back to the Cyclops, stinging taunts: So, Cyclops, no weak coward it was whose crew you bent to devour three in your vaulted cave—with your brute voice! Filthy crimes came down on your own head, you shameless cannibal” (Fagles, 226). Odysseus was insulting the Cyclops, and those insults caused the rage of the monster to boil over. The Cyclops was already angry with Odysseus blinding him, and was even more demoralized and angry when Odysseus began to taunt him. As Odysseus goes on with his insults and as his anger rises, he says, “Cyclops—if any man on the face of the earth should ask you who blinded you, shamed—say Odysseus, raider of cities, he gouged out your eye, La...
...at he has to say. Honestly I think that Odysseus was is a great leader because, he tried his best to keep his crew safe, he never gave up on them; even if they were in a bad situation.
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
The Character Odysseus in Odyssey "Odyssey" is an epic story that has been a significant piece of literature since it was first composed and will remain so for ages to come. One of the reasons it has been so is because of the hero, Odysseus. Odysseus was one of the first Greek mythic heroes renowned for his brain as well as his muscles. Indeed he is a man with an inquiring mind, and he is also a man with outstanding prowess and bravery" (123helpme.com/assets/3603.html). "We also must not forget that he is a top-notch athlete which only adds more to this seemingly insuperable character.
Both Antigone and Oedipus, written by Sophocles, use character’s opinions and approach to leadership to show Sophocles’ ideal leadership style for a king.
Homer's epic tale The Odyssey is a story of the triumphs and downfalls that are in store for one warrior's long pillage home. Odysseus, the hero from the Trojan wars, has led his people of Ithaca and other Achaean soldiers to victory and now wishes to return home to his wife and family of Ithaca. Through his twenty year journey Odysseus is often tested not only of his physical strength, but his wits as well. The many accomplishments he achieved earned him great status and recognition throughout ancient Greece. The mistakes he made caused the deaths of many men. Consequently, we as readers are able to see the many personas that Odysseus carries with him.
At that unforeseen moment a gunshot was launched into the atmosphere. There was chaos high and low like hippopotamuses running. On board, the crowds began to gather in the corners of the vessel for defense. I simply sunk beneath the side railing trying to process the situation.
The smoke was choking me. I could see a faint outline of a face across the deck. It was Tom, my lifelong friend and companion. He was completely surrounded by the bright flames."Tom are you OK!!""Yeah, but the fire has me surrounded!""Tom jump overboard, hurry!""But....but....""Do it quick, hurry!"I hit the surprisingly cold water with a crash.