...As a natural-born leader, I've always been motivated to inspire and encourage others around me. I always tried to help and encourage my teammates when I played football. Leadership has also come up in the Odyssey several times with Odysseus and his men. Odysseus is known as being the hero of the Odyssey and being a good leader, but I disagree. There have been many times where Odysseus has made terrible decisions like when he was facing the six-headed monster named Scylla. He didn’t tell his men what was ahead and I think that was a bad decision. A leader with bad decisions can put his whole team in jeopardy. Like when Odysseus went to the Cyclops cave and stabbed him in the eye and stole his belongings, which led to the death of his men. There wasn’t any reason to believe that the Cyclops were going to harm them, Odysseus was just being selfish. They told Odysseus to steer clear of the land of sirens, which if you heard it would lead you to death, but he wanted to be famous and say he survived the land of sirens. When he was doing this, he put all his men in danger because if the wax didn't work, all of his men would be dead....
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...perceive or hear them to be. The epic poem The Odyssey by Homer is about a war hero and king named Odysseus and his journey home from the Trojan War and it reveals how even great leaders have their flaws. Odysseus is faced with many trials throughout his journey home to Ithaca. Although he is said to be a perfect leader, we later see that his flaws are what cause these challenges and ultimately gets in his way to get home. Odysseus is a person who likes adventure and likes to experience things first-hand, because of this he is an imperfect leader. Odysseus has his qualities, he’s a brilliant strategist and has shown that by being the one who came up with the idea to use the Trojan Horse to end the ten-year-long war. When coming back from the war, one of his first trials is against a cyclops named Polyphemus. He and his men get captured by the Cyclops and get trapped in a cave where it is blocked by a huge boulder. When Polyphemus asks for Odysseus’ name, Odysseus says “‘Nobody - that’s my name. Nobody - so my mother and father call me, all my friends,’” (223). This is a good idea not to tell they cyclops his name, it shows he's quick to think of a good plan because of him being on the spot when faced with the question. The reason why he says his name is “Nobody” is so when Odysseus attacks the Cyclops. NOBODY is attacking Polyphemus. It’s a clever trick and it would have worked if Odysseus hadn’t revealed later that “‘say Odysseus, raider of cities, he gouged out your eye, Laertes’...
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...The Odyssey is Homer’s epic poem translated by Robert Fitzgerald. It is about Odysseus’ 10-year battle to return home after the Trojan war. While Odysseus battles mythical creatures and countenances the wrath of the Gods, his wife Penelope and son Telemachus stave off suitors vying for Penelope’s hand and Ithaca’s position of authority sufficiently long for Odysseus to return. In the Odyssey, Odysseus demonstrates to be a good leader because he gives a prime case of a homeric hero and he exhibits moral obligation in his actions throughout the epic. Initially, Odysseus chooses to go to war with the Greeks despite the fact that he does not want to leave his wife and son. Odysseus answers, “My lady goddess, there is no cause for anger. My quiet Penelope I long for home, long for the sight of home,” (The Wanderings....
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...Amazing leaders are easy to spot. According to Forbes.com, they are confident, creative, inspiring, and have the ability to delegate, good communication, a commitment, a positive attitude, and intuition. However, that is not the entire story. A leader also must care for those they are leading, they must be trusted to put the goal and the group above themselves. In other words they must be humble and not arrogant. Something the main character from Homer’s Odyssey is not. The Odyssey is the story of a man named Odysseus who is returning back home to his wife and son from a 10 year war. On his way home he must face many difficult trials including monsters and gods. Odysseus may have been a great hero, but he was not a great leader because...
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...Leadership is not something to be taken lightly. In the book the Odyssey, Odysseus leads his men through many journeys on his way back home to Ithaca. Odysseus has the responsibility of taking care of the lives of his whole crew. In today's world, a leader may just be the coach of the local high school basketball team or the manager of the McDonald’s just down the road. These two occupations have nothing in common with what Odysseus is faced with in his endeavor, except for one thing. All three of these leaders want success for themselves and the people that they are trying to lead. Odysseus fails at leading his men to success because he allows for all of his men to die during his journey back to Ithaca. Odysseus is an unfit leader because he does not possess the trust of his crew and the openness to communicate with them....
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...Compassion, strength, and intellect are what make up a successful leader, but; although Odysseus is a great hero; does he have any qualities to be a great leader? The epic poem “The Odyssey” by Homer tells the story of Odysseus and his journey home to Ithaca. The adventure home tests Odysseus in both his capabilities to journey home and to lead his crew to safety. He fails in the latter. From his own actions thought his journey, Odysseus’s pride, selfishness, and absence of cautiousness causes the destruction of his crew and delays his eventual return home. Odysseus’s selfishness and pride contribute to his inadequate leadership role. An Example of his own arrogance creating problems includes Poseidon’s rage towards Odysseus. Odysseus angers...
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...In The Odyssey, Homer tells a tale about the main character Odysseus as goes through many trials and tribulations on his journey home. Homer’s tales shows many important things about the Greeks and their views about life. One of things he shows through his story are the qualities of leadership. The Odyssey shows many important qualities of leadership, three of the most important qualities of leadership are determination, courage and intelligence. The Odyssey shows that one of the most important qualities of leadership is the ability to be determine and not let the bumps in the road stop you from reaching your goal. In book 5, although Odysseus has been stuck on a beautiful island with a beautiful women he still longs to go home. “Yet it is true, each day I long for home, long for the sight of home,” replied Odysseus to Calypso. Calypso tried her best to try and convince Odysseus to neglect his goal, but Odysseus stayed strong and kept his goal in sight. This is an important quality for a leader to have, because a leader must be able to keep his men strong and help them remember why they are still working. A leader has to be able to stand firm even if his men begin to give up hope. The Odyssey show what a determined leader looks like through the character of Odysseus....
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...the odyssey Odyssey starts with a man named odysseus who went to the trojan war and it took 20 years to come home . In those 20 years he went to different islands, Encountered many different monsters and then finally made it home to his wife penelope who didn't know it was him till later on. She didn't know it was him because the suitors ( guys well men that tried to act and say they were odysseus so they could become king). Everett is having trouble adjusting to his hard-labor sentence in Mississippi. He finds his way off the chain gang with Delmar and Pete. Then the three guys set out to be free and the promise of a fortune in buried treasure. while still in their shackles, then they run which takes them on a crazy journey of exciting experiences. i disagree. i feel like o’ brother is not a good representative for odyssey ....
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...THE ODYSSEY Is a good leader classified as one who personally gains a lot or one who benefits his or her community at large? After fighting in the brutal Trojan War, Odysseus travels the sea in hopes of returning to Ithaca, his homeland, and his wife and son, Penelope and Telemachus. Homer’s The Odyssey reveals the struggles and obstacles Odysseus and his men face traveling home. As prophesized, twenty years later, Odysseus returns to a devastated Ithaca, alone, penniless and unrecognizable. Odysseus has hubris, a flaw that costs him, as well his men, excessive troubles. Odysseus does not learn from his and others’ past mistakes, again leading him into traps that could have easily been avoided. Odysseus constantly puts his men in harm’s way for selfish purposes. For these reasons, Odysseus is an incompetent leader, and therefore should be criticized. Odysseus has hubris. This excessive pride and arrogance leads Odysseus and his men into difficult situations that would not have otherwise arisen. Towards the beginning of Homer’s epic, Odysseus narrowly escapes from a Cyclops’ cave. In triumphant victory, Odysseus taunts the Cyclops, Polyphemus. His men advise him against further agitating Polyphemus after the Cyclops starts throwing massive boulders at their ship; however, Odysseus displays hubris and does not listen. ‘Godsake, Captain! Why bait the beast again? Let him alone!’ ‘Aye He’ll smash our timbers and our heads together!’ / I would not heed them...
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...Odysseus and Ulysees both were brilliant leaders who led their groups to victories. Generally you can consider both quick and bold leaders who fought their ways brilliantly. Odysseus himself helped save his men more than enough times. Odysseus never stopped to reflect on what the situation was. He believed to be stronger than the competitor and always up for a challenge. He is a leader that relies on his ability to think and sneak his enemies rather than his strength. Odysseus was not only a warrior but he was mostly respected because of his intelligence. He was devious warrior that achieved great lengths and led his team to many victories because of his way of thinking. Ulysses was also a great leader, he was leading Pete and Delmar into a treasure he knew it was hidden and wanted to retrieve it before they got to build the new lake. Everett was very quick with his words and getting himself out of trouble. Just as Odysseus, Ulysses wanted to return home to see his family. The journey of Ulysses preserves the essential meaning of the journey of Odysseus by following their story similarly though the struggles they faced each step of the way. One of the events with Big Dan T who represents the Cyclops in the odyssey, attack Ulysses and Delmar and kills Pete. Big Dan T then proceeds to rob them of their money and making a run for it. You can familiarize this scenario with the Cyclops attacking Odysseus and his crew and killing his crew members. Another essential meaning to...
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...The storytelling in the Odyssey is told in a way that creates or solidifies memory depending on who the audience is. Odysseus, throughout his journey, has told his story to the Phaiacians to solidify, or at least make sense, his suffering that was endured on his journey back home. Later, he creates multiple variations of a story to protect his identity as he attempts to create bonds built on trust with anyone who has not betrayed him while he was gone. By telling these stories, either being about his journey home or about being from Crete, Odysseus is fermenting a memory in his audience that portrays himself as a strong leader/soldier that has endured much pain on his journey home. After telling the Phaiacians his story thus far, Odysseus...
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...his wife. In the story, The Odyssey, Odysseus goes on a 10 year quest to get back to his wife, Penelope, and his son Telemachus. On this quest he has to battle sirens who sing men to their death, cyclops who eat people, circe, who turns men into animals and most importantly has to sail on the ocean, which the only god that hates Odysseus, Poseidon. Odysseus had to conquer monsters in order to get back to his wife and his son. Therefore this is why I think that in the book The Odyssey, the main character Odysseus was a good hero. One reason why I think that Odysseus was a great hero was because he tried to save everyone he could. “ Odysseus urges his exhausted crew by Thrinacia, the island of the sun god, Helios. But the men insist on landing. Odysseus makes them swear not to touch the god’s cattle”(Homer 922). This shows that he is a good leader because he warns them so that they won’t die so they want to go back to...
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...In the epic poem The Odyssey, Homer changes Odysseus’ decisions to reveal that leaders must make rational decisions for the most successful outcome possible. The theme of leadership is represented through the protagonist, Odysseus, recovering some of his crew from their mistakes, constructing an optimal plan to overcome brute force, and making decisions that will later affect their destiny. Throughout the Odyssey, Odysseus makes rational decisions for himself and his crew to accomplish the goal of returning back home from his journey. After some of Odysseus’ crew members make the mistake of consuming the lotus flower on the Island of the Lotus Eaters, Homer shows that Odysseus’ changed decisions to protect his crew change and reveal the...
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...In the hero's journey, a courageous figure will leave out of his comfort zone to safe the population from destruction. The Odyssey follows the “The Hero's Journey” dramastically as the epic continues. Odysseus being a important soldier and war hero he keeps the role of being a brave of all. Being Odysseys he repeatedly faces situations in which humility is being demolished. In his adventures he fails these tests as when he taunts polyphemus inflaming poseidon. By following the outline from hero's journey Odysseus goes through the first threshold when he left for war and got the ultimate boon when he came home and retrieved his wife. Penelope, Odysseus wife has been told to marry a suitor during this long journey,...
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...Odysseus, Where Art Thou CS HUM/102 January 21, 2014 Professor Michael Downs There is an interesting event that takes place in works of art that we enjoy, and that is how something that we enjoy today can be based on something else from many years ago. Take the epic poem “The Odyssey” and the film “O Brother Where Art Thou”; the plot of this film is based loosely on the plight of Odysseus in “The Odyssey” Let us begin with the main characters of these two works. The Odyssey has Odysseus and O Brother Where Art Thou has Ulysses. Both appear to be natural born leaders with an outstanding wit and the capability to talk themselves in and out of trouble. Both Odysseus and Ulysses have great pride and confidence which seems to be a constant catalyst for their troubles. These two men obtain the faith of their men easily and both seem to drag their companions down into the dirt with themselves. Ulysses and Odysseus both seem to care a great deal about their men and both attempt to spare their men as much grief as either of them can given the circumstances they put themselves into. The stories of Ulysses and Odysseus are about the troubles and adventures that they face trying to make it back to the women that they love. There is another similarity between these two stories. The main woman of Odysseus’ heart is his wife Penelope, while Penny is the holder of Ulysses’ heart. Both of these women also never seem to lose their love for their husbands while these...
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