Analysis of Odysseus as a Good Leader

Being a leader is a very honorable and important status. In order to serve as a good leader one must have certain qualities about their personality and abilities. Leaders must fall above their followers in certain ways, like levels of knowledge and readiness for whatever may come their way. They must be superior in order to provide as a good figure for others to follow, learn from, and willingly respect. Leaders have more expectations and responsibilities that they must cater to as well. In The Odyssey, it is clear that Odysseus has earned the respect and status of a leader to Ithaca’s people. They readily address him as their king and leave many responsibilities in his hands. Throughout his journey, Odysseus proves himself worthy of this reputation due to how deals with the challenges he faces and carries his men. Overall, Odysseus is a good leader because he is brave, thoughtful, and clever.

In the first place, Odysseus demonstrates his ability to be a good leader by being strong with everything he goes through during the epic. In the beginning, he is courageous as he leads his people into the Trojan War. After that, he stays equally as strong when faced with Poseidon’s anger and the journey ahead of him. At Polyphemus’s cave, Odysseus shows no fear confronting and speaking to the Cyclops in the beginning. When he realizes his men are in danger, he is confident in an escape plan and taking the risks to go through with it. Before leading the mission to blind Polyphemus, Odysseus even considered attacking the Cyclops himself. “So I took counsel in my great heart, whether I should draw near, and pluck my sharp sword from my thigh, and stab him in the breast, where the midriff holds the liver, feeling for the place with my hand”. Next, the group was stranded on Circe’s island and his men were turned into animals by the goddess. Odysseus dauntlessly went after his men and was determined to rescue them from her curse. He confronted Circe and slept with her in order to have his men turned back into humans, proving his fearlessness and reliability as a leader. There were other points where Odysseus showed his bravery, like when he travelled to the underworld, and many more. These were only some main events in the epic that showed his acts of valor, but they supported his ability to be a good leader nonetheless.

Moreover, Odysseus proved himself a proper leader through being thoughtful. Throughout The Odyssey, he lead his men well by thinking every situation through. He considered how to deal with each problem and always did what was best for his people. For example, when they arrived at the Land of the Lotus Eaters, Odysseus ordered three of his men to explore the island for dangers, rather than all at once investigating the situation. Then, he was thoughtful in the sense of caring for his men and their wellbeing. The three men were put under a spell where they forgot their way home, but Odysseus forcefully brought them back to the ship himself. “Therefore I led them back to the ships weeping, and sore against their will, and dragged them beneath the benches, and bound them in the hollow barques”. This shows that he truly cared about his men and kept their wellbeing in mind no matter the circumstances. Afterwards, at the Cyclops’ cave, Odysseus also showed how thoughtful he was as he lead his people through a well-devised plan to save them from the Cyclops. So, thoughtfulness is clearly another trait of Odysseus that he uses to make him a stronger leader.

Furthermore, Odysseus is very clever, which is a another strong trait leaders should possess. For example, Odysseus wisely told the Cyclops his name was ‘noman’ so that he could not properly call out for help once he was impaled. “Noman is my name, and Noman they call me, and my father and my mother and all my fellows’. Also, Odysseus is evidently clever when devising the escape plan from the Cyclops’ cave. He thought of an elaborate, but organized way to blind Polyphemus after drugging him. Then, he planned for his men to escape concealed by being bound under the bellies of sheep. Odysseus also leads with his clever ideas when he orders the Greeks to build the Trojan Horse so they could raid Troy and destroy it. That was how the war was won, and it was all thanks to Odysseus and his cleverness and ability to lead.

In brief, Odysseus clearly is a good leader because he is courageous, pensive, and intelligent. Throughout the entirety of The Odyssey, Odysseus proved to be a strong leader for his men in all the ways he worked with problems and carried his men. He was reliable and strong, and so he earned title of king in Ithaca and was treated with great respect.

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