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Odysseus: A Bad Leader

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Odysseus: A Bad Leader
The Odyssey translated by Robert Fagles is about Odysseus who is the king of Ithaca and his troubles with the Greek gods. Odysseus may be a good king but he is certainly not a very good leader when it comes to long journeys and battles. He made it home to Ithica but not without a lot of struggles and bad decisions. Odysseus’ selfishness, anger, and stubbornness were a part of his not too great leadership throughout the Odyssey. He did not protect his men very well. A leader needs to also be a team player and Odysseus did not show that quality at all. He would always do something that was not trustworthy. One minute he might have done something to show that he could be trusted but then the next minute he word do something dumb and ruin the trust of his men.
The first reason why Odysseus is a bad leader is because he was very selfish, angry, and stubborn. To be a good leader someone should be selfless not selfish and angry. In book nine Odysseus refuses to leave the Cyclops cave even though his men think it’s a bad idea to stay. He only stays because he wants gifts from the Cyclops. His longing for wealth caused six of his men to die. In book ten he doesn’t tell his men what Aeolus had sent with him as a gift. So his men were curious and opened the bag, only to find that they were given wind which then sent them sailing away in the wrong direction. Odysseus’ bad communication skills delayed him even longer from getting to his destination.
The second reason why Odysseus was a bad leader was because he never protected his men. A good leader would do whatever it would take to keep his men safe and protected. When Odysseus saw his men go to Scylla he did not try to stop them even though he knew what was going happen to them. He always used his men to go check out and scout anywhere he had never been before he went. He never really thought that much of life he was just kind of nonchalant about his men dying. Odysseus went back home without any of his men because he never tried hard to protect them and he always sent them into the danger.
The final reason as to why Odysseus was not a good leader is because he was not a team player. All leaders should work with their men instead of just telling them what to do......Not finished

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