Odyssey Leadership Essay Although many see Odysseus as a great hero in Homer’s Odyssey, it is arguable that Odysseus is a terrible leader because he doesn’t have any qualities of a leader. In Homer’s Odyssey, Odysseus is a terrible leader because he can’t make the right decisions. One of the main components of a good leader is the capability to make the right choices in trying times. Odysseus shows he is incapable of making good decisions time and time again. One instance of Odysseus failing to make the correct decision is when he taunted the Kyklopes. Odysseus and his crew were sailing away from the Kyklopes’ Island and Odysseus wanted to mock the enraged Kyklopes. His crew pleaded, “Why bait the beast again? Let him alone?” (159, 538). Odysseus ignores his crew and goes on to tell the
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He gets himself into many dilemmas that he could have avoided if he learned from his previous experiences. A lesson that Odysseus should have learned was not to let his men go unsupervised. When they were about to reach Ithaca, Odysseus took a nap and let his men go unsupervised. They got jealous and opened the bag of winds that Aiolos gave Odysseus. The winds were released, “And rough gale blew the ships and rueful crews clear back to Aiolia” (166, 59-61). Odysseus should have learned to be careful with his men and take precautions, but he continues on without learning any lessons from what had happened to him. At Helios’ island Odysseus separates himself from his men again and falls, “Under slow drops of sleep” (221, 444). His men take advantage of his disappearance and eat the cattle that Odysseus specifically told them not to eat. As a rule, a great leader has to learn from his mistakes to better himself. Here, you can see Odysseus falling into the same problem multiple times. He lets his men go unbridled and many bad things happen because of that. Therefore, Odysseus is a horrible
He gets himself into many dilemmas that he could have avoided if he learned from his previous experiences. A lesson that Odysseus should have learned was not to let his men go unsupervised. When they were about to reach Ithaca, Odysseus took a nap and let his men go unsupervised. They got jealous and opened the bag of winds that Aiolos gave Odysseus. The winds were released, “And rough gale blew the ships and rueful crews clear back to Aiolia” (166, 59-61). Odysseus should have learned to be careful with his men and take precautions, but he continues on without learning any lessons from what had happened to him. At Helios’ island Odysseus separates himself from his men again and falls, “Under slow drops of sleep” (221, 444). His men take advantage of his disappearance and eat the cattle that Odysseus specifically told them not to eat. As a rule, a great leader has to learn from his mistakes to better himself. Here, you can see Odysseus falling into the same problem multiple times. He lets his men go unbridled and many bad things happen because of that. Therefore, Odysseus is a horrible