How is Odysseus a bad leader?

Answer 1

Why Is Odysseus A Bad Leader?

Raid on the Cicones

· He blames his men, but as a leader he couldn't control them or lead them to the right decision 'but my fools of men refused'.

Lotus Eaters

· Odysseus should have gone himself, or sent more men: 'He sent two men with a third as herald'. He didn't send a guest gift along, unlike when he later visits the Cyclopes.

Cyclops's Cave

· He should have listened to what his men said: 'But my temper was up; their words did not dissuade me', 'but I was not to be persuaded'.

· They 'helped [themselves] to some of the cheeses' without being invited to- bad xenia.

· He shouldn't have taken his 'twelve best men', as it was these he was placing in the most danger and had a higher chance of losing if things went wrong, which he says he knew would happen: 'I had an instant foreboding that we were going to find ourselves face to face with some barbarous being of colossal strength and ferocity'.

· He is rude to the Cyclopes: 'give us the kind of gifts that hosts customarily give their guests', 'remember your duty to the gods'.

· He tells the Cyclops his name: 'I am Odysseus, sacker of cities, son of Laertes, who lives in Ithaca', which gives the Cyclops the power to curse him, resulting in the death of all his men: '… having lost all his comrades…'

Aeolus

· He doesn't tell his men what's in the bag: 'let's find out how much gold and silver is in this bag'.

· He didn't allocate the job of steering to anyone else, trying to do it all himself 'for nine days and nights we sailed on… when I fell fast asleep... For I handled the sheet of the ship myself without a break, giving it to no one else'.

· His men don't trust him. He has previously said he splits all of the treasure they get, yet they still believe he is trying to steal treasure from them. Leads the audience to question the reliability of the narrator (Odysseus).

Laestrygonians

· Odysseus leaves his ship outside of the cove, but lets the rest of his fleet go inside the bay without warning them of whatever danger he predicts.

· He sends two men and a messanger to find out what's on the island and one dies; they had no protection or guest gifts for supplication.

· 11/12ths of his ships and followers get destroyed.

· He tells the story briefly which shows how much of a disaster the whole situation was.

Circe

· Odysseus again sends an exploring contingency and doesn't go himself.

· He needs to be told by his men that they need to leave; they spent a year on the island when they should have gone back.

· A man falls from the roof and dies, but no one notices and they do not bury his body.

Sirens

· He treats himself differently from the rest of the men and listens to the Sirens, even though he was warned not to.

Scylla and Charybdis

· He doesn't warn his men of the danger, so they have no chance of defending themselves from the attack.

The Island of the Sun God

· They land on the island even when they're told to avoid it.

· He should have told them about Tiresias and the prophecy sooner.

· He has put them where they will be tempted to disobey his orders- a good leader would have lead them to another island.