Odysseus -Heroic Leader of His Time
There are many strong heroes in literature and films. In Homers’ The Odyssey, Odysseus shows his strong leadership. Odysseus is an effective leader as he proves in his encounters with the lotus-eaters, Cyclops, sun god, and the enchantress.
Odysseus is an effective leader as he proves in his encounter with the Cyclops (TS). When Odysseus is trapped in the cave with his men he comes up with a strategy to stab the Cyclops in the eye then escape by the Cyclops moving the boulder at the entrance of the cave, and then when the time is right he would “ [Drive] [his] big hand spike deep in the embers, charring it again” in his eye (323-324) (CD). This situation shows leadership because of Odysseus’ thinking fast to get him and his men out of a messy situation (CM). Odysseus tell the Cyclops before stabbing him in the eye that his name is “nohbdy” so when he yells out “Nohbdy, Nohbdy’s tricked me, Nobhdy’s ruined me!” in the middle of the night no one will pay attention (358) (CD). This, again, shows Odysseus’ great intellect, which is crucial to be a great leader (CM). Odysseus lastly shows leadership, with his encounter with the Cyclops, through coming up with a plan to hide his men under the Cyclops’ rams by tying three of them together and “[slinging] a man under each middle one,” so they could escape the cave unnoticed (380) (CD). Odysseus may have gotten him and his men into trouble with the Cyclops, but using his great mind he got most of them out (CS).
Saving his men from getting consumed by the lotus flower is another way that Odysseus shows leadership (TS). Odysseus shows his leadership by guiding the ship through Zeus’ storm even though “[he] saw death in that fury, dropped the yards”(75)(CD). By guiding the ship to the island and away from the treacherous storm shows Odysseus’ characteristic to take charge. (CM) Before his crew became forgetful of their homeland, because of the Lotus, Odysseus “[drives] them, all...