Odysseus' Leadeship Skills

Gabriela Garcia

English 9 Honors

Mrs. Gray

May 20, 2014 Odysseus’ Leadership Skills

Some qualities of an effective leader must possess are confidence, communication, honesty, creativity, courage, and brilliance. One the main reasons why Odysseus was an ineffective leader was that as much as he tried to save his men he was unaware he was making bad decisions. Bad decisions come with severe consequences. Odysseus is an ineffective leader because he was full of curiosity, always got himself and men in trouble, and always wasted time.

Odysseus was ineffective leader because he was way too curious. Some examples of curiosity are shown in the Lotus Eaters, Cyclops, Circe, Aeolia, Sirens, and Thrinakia. For example, in the Lotus Eaters Odysseus and a few men were curious to see what was on the island. Which they ended up finding and encountering the “plant” , which made them want to stay on the island maybe forever just eating it over and over again. Second of all, in the Cyclops they entered a cave where they had no idea whose it belonged to, and basically claimed it to be theirs by eating all the cheese there. Third, in Aeolia Odysseus didn’t tell his men what was in the bag and they had ideas of Odysseus hiding gold or other valuables from them which made them open the bag full of wind, which blew them back to Aeolus when they were about to reach Ithaca. Fourth of all, in the Sirens Odysseus was curious to see and hear what made their voices so hypnotizing. But, as soon as he heard their voices he immediately became hypnotized. If it weren’t for his men that plugged their ears and tied Odysseus tighter and tighter so they won’t all crash and die. Last of all, in Thrinakia Odysseus’ men were curious to see what the Gods would do if they ate the Sun Gods Cattle which they were forbidden to even come near them and touch them.

Odysseus was ineffective leader because he made too many unnecessary stops throughout his whole journey. This is shown in the Cicones,...