Margaux Johnstone

October 22, 2017

English 9

Homers Odyssey tells the story of a Greek hero, Odysseus, and his decade-long journey

home. Along this arduous journey, we see that Odysseus is a strong, independent man, but not

necessarily an adequate leader. Over the course of his trials, he loses every single member of his

crew. He does not set a positive example for others. Odysseus is selfish, irresponsible, and

hypocritical. He is not fit to lead his crew.

First off, Odysseus is selfish. He only thinks about himself, and his hubris is one of his

faults. Odysseus demonstrates time and time again that his thought process immediately goes to

himself, instead of thinking of the bigger picture or the good of the group. This is displayed on

the island of Polyphemus, the cyclops. While there, Odysseus proves he thinks his pride is more

important than the lives of his crew. Odysseus gathers a small group of men to explore the

island. He and his men are aware of the savage cyclops that live here, and see one while they are

exploring. Odysseuss men come up with a plan to replenish provisions and leave on their ships

quickly and discreetly. Odysseus says later,

But I wouldnt listen [to them]. It wouldve been far better if I had! But I wanted to see

him, and see if he would give me a gift of hospitality. (131)

In this quote, Odysseuss hindsight is accurate. However, in the moment, Odysseus opts

to disregard his men, thus postponing reaching their families, in order to test the cannibals

respect for him. He is curious about the limits of the cyclops, and puts this before the lives of his

men. As a result, multiple men die. While Odysseus and his remaining men are sailing away,

Odysseus antagonizes the cyclops, just to push Polyphemuss limits: I called out to the Cyclops,
just to rub it in, (138). His men beg him not to do it again. Odysseuss pride was not dissuaded

by his crew, and he called out again to the cyclops, this time with devastating consequences:

Cyclops, if anyone...Ask[s] you how you got your eye put out, tell him that Odysseus

the marauder did it, son of Laertes, whose home is on Ithaca. (138-9)

With this new information, Polyphemus curses Odysseuss crew to death, and curses

Odysseus personally to years of long torment:

If he [Odysseus] is fated to see his family again and return to his home May he come

late, having lost all companions And find trouble at home. (139)

Odysseuss selfishness, expressed in hubris and recklessness, condemns his whole crew

to a sorrowful fate.

Odysseus is also irresponsible. One can see this exemplified in many scenarios. One of

these instances is when Odysseus and his crew are leaving Circes island for the Underworld.

Odysseus packs up, and leaves. It appears to have gone smoothly. But Odysseus is so thoughtless

that he forgets a crew member. Hes already lost the majority of his crew, and he still cant keep

track of the limited number he currently has. The crewman left behind, Elpenor, actually dies on

Circes island. Odysseus doesnt realize this until he meets Elpenors spirit in the Underworld.

Another example of Odysseuss negligent leadership is after his men pillage Ismaros. Odysseus

tells his men load up and leave the island. They are disobedient, which is not Odysseuss fault.

However, the fault is Odysseuss when Odysseus gives in to his men, and in return they are

slaughtered by the rallying forces of the islands inhabitants. Odysseus is a leader, he should not

follow along with mob mentality or give in to his men. He should stand up for his own opinions

and orders, and make decisions for the better of the group. As a result of bad leadership, almost

all of his fleet is completely destroyed. Odysseuss weak and irresponsible leadership causes
more problems: He gives into the crew more than once. Just after sailing past the monsters

Charybdis and Scylla, Odysseus happens upon an island which he knows to be the home of the

god Helioss cattle. He was warned by Circe not to eat the glorious cattle of Helios. However,

when his men ask him to land, Odysseus consents. He shouldnt be able to give into, puppy

eyes, he needs to think of the bigger picture. Once on the island, Odysseuss men slaughter the

cattle, bringing them misfortune. Instead of chastising them and trying to make up for it to the

gods, hoping for forgiveness, Odysseus lets them slaughter more each night. He should reign in

his crew. He is careless and not fit to lead.

Not only is Odysseus irresponsible, but hes also hypocritical. He expects a loyal

Penelope to be waiting at home for him after a decade. Yet, he cheats constantly over this time.

He flirts with multiple women, including Nausicaa and her mother. He uses these women to get

what he wants from them. Odysseus cheats on Penelope with Circe, whose island he stays on for

a year. He systematically sleeps with Calypso while he stays with her. When Odysseus finally

gets home from his conquests, he hangs every serving woman who slept with a suitor. His double

standard is appalling. Not all of the serving women had a choice, but he certainly did. As slaves

or servants, the maidens were required to do what they were told, and they were outranked by the

suitors. Some were raped. Despite this, Odysseus takes it upon himself to murder these women

for exactly what he did: unfaithfulness.

I wont allow a clean death for these women--The suitors sluts, (350)

Another trait Odysseus is hypocritical with is curiosity. His curiosity of the cyclops

mysterious, cannibalistic ways leads to the death of every single crew member he had later in the

Odyssey, when Polyphemus curse befalls them in one way or another. However, when

Odysseuss crew express curiosity and question Odysseus, creating a wrinkle in their story
because of this, Odysseus is quick to demonize these traits and dismiss questions of his deserving

wealth, and blame his men for their entire misfortune. Explaining to a fellow king after the crew

thinks Odysseus is being greedy with his gold, Odysseus said,

My evil crew ruined me. (143)

He does not hold himself accountable for qualities he holds. In short, Odysseus demonizes traits

that he himself possesses, but only when he sees them in other people. He is seen as a hero for

(or at least his reputation is not tainted by) his promiscuity and curiosity, but when others

demonstrate these qualities they are quick to receive blame.

In conclusion, Odysseus may be considered a great man, but he is certainly a poor leader.

His bad qualities, selfishness, irrisponsibility, and hypocrisy all contribute to the deaths of the

very people he is supposed to be leading. Odysseus should not be trusted with a crew and the

lives of others.