Was Odysseus a Good Leader

Was Odysseus a good leader?

The Odyssey is a story written by the Greek philosopher Homer, in which he beautifully and creatively describes the adventures of Odysseus a Greek champion, in his quest to find his way back home to Ithaca. On his journey, Odysseus is faced with several situations in which his skill and character as a leader are challenged and stretched and in each incident he shows that he is an intelligent, courageous and selfless leader. His goal is to get his men and himself back to his home and his wife and children and his determination to complete this task is evident throughout the journey. Odysseus also struggled in certain instances to control his men yet he continually maintained his resolve to get them back to their home. For example, in the situation with the Lotus-Eaters he is unable to control his men and keep them from eating the intoxicating flowers which in turn caused them to become carefree and uncaring for their quest to return home. He could have left his men there yet he rescued them and returned them back to the ship where he had them tied down to keep them from harm. He was also very clever in only sending out three of his men first to assess the island and not risking his whole crew. He shows his intelligence in thinking out a plan and not being rash in compromising his entire crew.

In the encounter with the Cyclops, Odysseus displays his ability to stay clam in a situation that has already taken the lives of many of his men and where most leaders would begin to doubt and question their ability to survive, he stayed clam even when he saw his men being devoured by the Cyclops one after another. He devised a plan to get himself and the rest of his men out of the cave by telling his capture that his name was Nohbdy and he proceeded to blind his one eye by creating a makeshift weapon which showed his ability to adapt to his surroundings and to defend himself. When the Cyclops called out for help from his fellow giants they ignored him and thought that he was a fool because his response to them was that Nohbdy had ruined and attacked him. His ability to keep a clear head and be courageous in a situation that seemed doomed shows that his leadership skills were strong. Along his journey his ship passed the island on which the Sirens lived and sang their deadly song to lure the men of the passing ships to their deaths. Here again Odysseus demonstrated his ability to assess his situation and to come up with a plan of having his men cover their ears with wax so that they would not hear the deadly luring songs of the Sirens. However he was curious and wanted to hear what they sounded like. He had his men bind him down to the mast so that he would not be able to jump off the ship. He displayed courage and self sacrificing traits knowing that if he was able to free himself from the ropes that bound him to the mast, he we would jump to his death.

On his journey back