Odysseus As An Effective Leader In The Odyssey By Homer

The epic poem, The Odyssey by Homer is the the journey of a hero back home. It appears as if Odysseus is not at all an effective leader as he is the blamed for the death of his men. However his men’s ignorance and disobedience is what killed them and it does not reflect on his leadership. This story displays the different attributes of an effective leader which is important to learn for everyday life. Odysseus is mostly an effective leader as he is strategic and usually cautious. Odysseus displays his effective leadership during many circumstances such as “The Cyclops’ cave” and “Ithica” by being strategic and resourceful. When Odysseus and his men are trapped inside the now blinded Cyclops’ cave, Odysseus uses the bottom of the sheep to
In a time of struggle and pressure, Odysseus thinks of every possible threat or problem in his plans and revises it in order for it to execute correctly, and uses environmental and personal variables to his advantage. Using the blindness of the Cyclops and the Cyclops’ ownership of the sheep he is able to make a plan which delivers all his men to safety while going last himself to make sure nothing goes wrong with the plan, a display of his strategic abilities. In order for Odysseus to be able to kill the suitors that have taken over his home, he takes away their weapons and reveals himself suddenly, and he kills all 108 men (798-805). In this example too, Odysseus thinks of all the problems that can be caused and creates a plan which helps him avert these problems and execute his plan correctly. Surprising the suitors with his identity was his plan to leave them in a state of sudden fear and a lack of defence, making them easier targets
When on the land of the Lotus eaters, Odysseus sends two of his men accompanied by a runner to explore, and when their return is delayed he goes after them himself (758). While facing an unknown and foreign land Odysseus does not take the risk of losing his men and is cautious as possible by sending the least of the men he could and a runner in case of an emergency to avoid the loss of his men, a cautious and well thought moved, and after the absence of his men, in fear of losing more men and in loyalty to his men, he retrieves them himself taking any step necessary to avoid the occurrence of an additional problem. After escaping the Cyclops’ cave, Odysseus and his men were heading to seas when Odysseus reveals his real identity and starts taunting the Cyclops (760-770). While being at the bosom of safety, and out of the reach of the Cyclops, Odysseus puts his crew in danger by angering the Cyclops which results in the Cyclops throwing a very large rock at them and then cursing him and his men after understanding the true identity of the clever man. In this situation, Odysseus does not take in consideration, the future consequences of angering the Cyclops and revealing his identity, showing his incautious decisions and leadership imperfections as he did not think of the consequences of his actions. As a leader Odysseus is tasked to be as cautious a possible to preclude