...In the epic poem,“The Odyssey,”written by Homer and translated by Robert Fitzgerald the main character Odysseus is on his way home and is faced by a numerous amount of challenges, Odysseus uses his leadership skills, cunning and fearless personality to return home safely. Leadership is one of the character traits that helped Odysseus get home. Odysseus employs his leadership skills when he motivates his crew to row past Scylla, a monster with 6 heads, and Charybdis, a whirlpool, he does this in the excerpt“Well I walked up and down bow to stern trying to put heart into them,”(Fitzgerald, 510). To get home Odysseus must cross Scylla and Charybdis. Odysseus again shows his leadership ability when he avoids Charybdis knowing the whirlpool will...
Words: 475 - Pages: 2
...Furthermore, by examining the actions and reactions of the characters in The Odyssey, a clear connection can be made between the epic and the innate behavior that certain people have and others don’t. Paul Hersey and Ken Blanchard, who are both well-known authors, created a theory called the “Theory of Situational Leadership”. The theory proposes that a manager's leadership style should be flexible and be adaptable to the situation, the task at hand and the capabilities of the individuals involved. Accordingly, a leader may adopt one of four different styles: Directing Style, Coaching Style, Supporting Style, and Delegating Style. Their research shows that a leader of a Directing Style tends to have the leader in command and only focused on completing the task, rather than the relationship between his or her crew members. The author explains,”The leader provides clear...
Words: 448 - Pages: 2
...I believe that the lessons in The Odyssey are still relevant to modern youth today. However, some may think that just because The Odyssey was written thousands of years ago, the lessons cannot pertain to us now. One lesson that we can still use today is the lesson of leadership. Odysseus leads his men into the Cyclops cave because he was curious to see who lived there. And because of his curiosity, “I wished to see the caveman, what he had to offer—” (line 75-76) he lost men. This teaches us that if you are a leader, think about the consequences that might happen before acting upon them and endangering your adherents. We can use this and apply it to our everyday lives, because many times we do things before we take time to consider the repercussions...
Words: 364 - Pages: 2
...A good leader is hard to define. “Leadership is the art of leading others to deliberately create a result that wouldn’t have happened otherwise” - search inside yourself leadership institute. There are also many qualities of a good leader. Some of the qualities include honesty, decisiveness, and selflessness. In the epic poem the Odyssey by Homer, Odysseus, the main character, is faced with the decision between the monsters Scylla and Charybdis. Scylla is a female monster with 6 dog heads, and Charybdis is a whirlpool. He chooses to pass by Scylla instead of Charybdis on his journey home. Odysseus is a good leader he makes good decisions, and he puts his men's needs in front of his own. As mentioned before, the main qualities of a leader...
Words: 416 - Pages: 2
...Throughout the epic poem The Odyssey by Homer translated by Robert Fitzgerald, Odysseus reveals his identity as king and hero, demonstrates his leadership on behalf of his crew, and shows hubris. During his journey home to Ithaka, Odysseus and his crew face and overcome many kinds of obstacles. One of the obstacles is the Kyklopes, a one-eyed beast who lives on an island. Because of the threat of the Kyklopes, Odysseus must use his leadership to help his men escape so they can go back to Ithaka. Although Odysseus’ leadership is substantial, his hubris and his identity make the Kyklopes more of an obstacle than he needs it to be. Odysseus demonstrates his leadership by providing a course of plan to escape the island of Kyklopes. During Odysseus’...
Words: 952 - Pages: 4
...In Homer’s the Odyssey, a man named Odysseus spends years and years trying to get home to his family. On his long journey, he encounters a number of different situations that test his true character. The reader finds out who Odysseus really is based on the situations he is put in and how he chooses to handle these situations. From being stuck on an Island with Calypso, a nymph goddess, to almost being eaten by a vicious cyclops, to seeing his wife for the first time in 20 years, Odysseus stays true to his character. Throughout the epic, Odysseus shows constant signs of bravery, leadership, intelligence, cleverness, and wholehearted faithfulness, and these things are what makes him such an admirable character. Bravery and leadership go hand in hand because bravery is a trait that all good leaders have. Odysseus showed amazing bravery and leadership skills throughout the Odyssey. One place where Odysseus’s bravery and leadership are revealed the most is when Odysseus and his men encounter Poseidon’s Cyclops son, Polyphemus. Odysseus used his leadership skills and bravery to help his men escape the wrath of Polyphemus while...
Words: 807 - Pages: 4
...was hurting him. By using this clever trick, Odysseus keeps the other Cyclops from believing Polyphemus and coming to his aid. In the sheep escape plan, Odysseus and his men get safely out of harm's way by riding on the underside of sheep to get out of the monster's cave. Odysseus proves that he is worthy of leadership by using his clever tactics to get himself and the people he cares about to safety. Odysseus shows the importance of leadership because he stays loyal to his family through his difficult and compelling wandering. Odysseus met many beautiful women along his journey. Two of which being Calypso and the Phaeacians. Calypso, who holds him captive for eight years and the Phaeacians who are some of the most beautiful women...
Words: 318 - Pages: 2
...Research Simulation Task Essay Outline: The Hero’s Journey. Directions: Use your completed close-reading charts on “The Hero’s Adventure” and “The Hero’s Journey,” as well as your annotations from “The Odyssey” to complete this outline for your research simulation essay. 10 point classwork grade Introduction Hook Statement - Engage the reader with a compelling quote or question related to the topic How does the Hero’s journey structure contribute to the development of Odysseus’ character as an epic hero and aligns with his journey? Background Information - Provide necessary context about the topic and its significance In the Odyssey, Odysseus goes through many phases/challenges of which align with the “stages” in the Hero’s Journey. These...
Words: 1060 - Pages: 5
...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...
Words: 866 - Pages: 4
...A multitude of books, movies, songs and other works are created based relatively close to original works, as is Oh Brother, Where Art Thou in relation to The Odyssey. Between the two works, countless similarities are found such as physical features and leadership skills. One specific portion of correlation comes from the cyclops scene in The Odyssey which is comparable to the scene that Big Dan is present in during Oh Brother, Where Art Thou. Throughout the whole scene it is easy to recognize slight resemblances. The first comparable component is physical. Both Big Dan and the Cyclops have only one eye. With this characteristic integrated into Big Dan, it is easy to conclude that the director of the film Oh Brother, Where Art Thou intended...
Words: 383 - Pages: 2
...everything to get back to 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...
Words: 541 - Pages: 3
...Kendra Perkins Matt Fox Eng 112 14 December 2011 The Odyssey: Comparison of Genders in Greek Mythology The Odyssey by Homer may be seen by many as a heroic story of a man on his journey home; however, there is an underlying story of the trials in the roles of men and women and the relationships between them. Men and women are portrayed differently in Greece, as in other societies. Men are considered to be the more powerful of the two and are responsible for the protection of their home. Women, on the other hand, are thought to care for the children and are also responsible for the supervision of both the interior and exterior of the home while the men are away. As a man, Odysseus showed great leadership in the war at Troy and was considered the hero at the Trojan War. His wife Penelope, on the other hand, exemplified the role of a woman and leadership in her daily duties of caring for the home and all of their possessions within. In her attempts to do so, she was overcome by suitors and was unable to stop them from partaking of all of their meat and drinks. This essay will explain the underlying roles of men and women in ancient Greece as well as modern day. The beginning of the novel takes place in Ithaka at the home of Odysseus. Suitors have overrun his home in the pursuit of marrying his “widow” Penelope. Telemakhos, son of Odysseus, felt it was a shame that these men would come into their home and eat and drink their house empty. Athena, daughter of Zeus, came to Telemakhos...
Words: 1775 - Pages: 8
...In Homer's the odyssey there is a character named Odysseus. Odysseus goes on an amazing journey and along his way he goes through many things that mold him into an epic hero. Odysseus also proves his heroism through his behavior. During the story Odysseus often presents us with his great intelligence, his superhuman strength, and also his great leadership and bravery. However though Odysseus does not always act like a hero and does immoral things but when the time is right, the true heroic side of him will come out and we will see how heroic Odysseus really is. Odysseus is a true epic hero and has the the personal characteristics to prove it. Throughout the Odyssey Odysseus presents us with examples of his superhuman strength. That is characteristic...
Words: 843 - Pages: 4
...same. In the Odyssey one can see there are unquestionably different expectations for men versus women during this time period. To this day, there is little information on Homer himself. Even though there is not much information about the author himself, it is known that “The epic poem Odyssey focuses on the Greek character Odysseus and his ten year journey from Troy to Ithaca after the fall of Troy (Trojan war).”("Odyssey by Ancient Greek Poet Homer.") This story takes place directly after the Trojan War. The society is still recovering from the war and tragedy. Although gender expectations are true in the early years that the Odyssey...
Words: 1275 - Pages: 6
...Throughout the Odyssey, Odysseus exhibits his most prominent heroic trait of courage, but unfortunately, also demonstrates the human characteristic of arrogance. Even though Odysseus is seen as a hero, he has bad qualities too. Odysseus has the two main qualities of courage and arrogance which he demonstrates while fighting the cyclops and traveling throughout the seas with his crew. Homer exhibits these traits all throughout the story by presenting Odysseus as a war like hero with no flaws, when further throughout the story you are able to see all of Odysseus most human like qualities. . Odysseus has many characteristics that he portrays all throughout the book of the Odyssey. A couple of his most prominent heroic qualities are courage...
Words: 1027 - Pages: 5
