Odysseus
Odysseus’s Leadership Skills
Good leaders inspire those who follow with words as well as actions. There are,
however, not perfect and sometimes make poor decisions. In The Odyssey, Odysseus,
being human, sometimes makes errors in judgment and puts himself and his men in
danger. In Homer’s classic epic, The Odyssey, Odysseus demonstrates characteristics of
both an effective and ineffective leader.
An example of Odysseus’s effective leadership would be his ability to think ahead, for
instance when he lied to the Cyclops about the whereabouts of his ship. “My ship?
Poseidon Lord, who sets the earth a tremble, broke it up on the rocks at your land’s end”
(1053). By lying to the Cyclops he has a way to escape the island without the Cyclops
knowing of his only source of transportation. Another great quality of leadership that
Odysseus has is his ability to hype up his men “…[cheering] my men along with battle
talk to keep their courage up” (1056). By being able to hype up his men so well Odysseus
is able to keep his men calm, despite some of them being eaten if front of their eyes, he
has them ready for battle none the less.
However Odysseus does have some ineffective leadership skills that get him and his
men in danger. For example Odysseus’s curiosity in many instances got a lot of his men
killed similarity to when they sailed up ashore on the Cyclops island “I wished to see the
cave man, what he had to offer” (1051). When they went to the cave to see what the
Cyclopes had to offer Odysseus lost two men while trying to escape the cave, in spite of
escaping the Cyclopes island Odysseus’s arrogance got them into some real trouble when
they were leaving to go home “O Cyclops! Would you feast on my companions? Puny,
am I, in a cave man’s hands? How do you like the beating that we gave you, you damned
cannibal?” (1060). By yelling back at the Cyclops he
Good leaders inspire those who follow with words as well as actions. There are,
however, not perfect and sometimes make poor decisions. In The Odyssey, Odysseus,
being human, sometimes makes errors in judgment and puts himself and his men in
danger. In Homer’s classic epic, The Odyssey, Odysseus demonstrates characteristics of
both an effective and ineffective leader.
An example of Odysseus’s effective leadership would be his ability to think ahead, for
instance when he lied to the Cyclops about the whereabouts of his ship. “My ship?
Poseidon Lord, who sets the earth a tremble, broke it up on the rocks at your land’s end”
(1053). By lying to the Cyclops he has a way to escape the island without the Cyclops
knowing of his only source of transportation. Another great quality of leadership that
Odysseus has is his ability to hype up his men “…[cheering] my men along with battle
talk to keep their courage up” (1056). By being able to hype up his men so well Odysseus
is able to keep his men calm, despite some of them being eaten if front of their eyes, he
has them ready for battle none the less.
However Odysseus does have some ineffective leadership skills that get him and his
men in danger. For example Odysseus’s curiosity in many instances got a lot of his men
killed similarity to when they sailed up ashore on the Cyclops island “I wished to see the
cave man, what he had to offer” (1051). When they went to the cave to see what the
Cyclopes had to offer Odysseus lost two men while trying to escape the cave, in spite of
escaping the Cyclopes island Odysseus’s arrogance got them into some real trouble when
they were leaving to go home “O Cyclops! Would you feast on my companions? Puny,
am I, in a cave man’s hands? How do you like the beating that we gave you, you damned
cannibal?” (1060). By yelling back at the Cyclops he