The Oddyssey essays

The Oddyssey essays In Homers Odyssey, Odysseus leads his men on the difficult journey back to Ithaca. The journey tests Odysseuss leadership abilities. Odysseus is often distracted and fails to protect his men. On other occasions, Odysseuss men would die if it were not for him. In The Odyssey, Odysseus has strengths and weaknesses in his leadership ability. On some occasions, Odysseus uses his crafty mid to overcome obstacles. When Odysseus and his men encounter the Cyclops, the Cyclops eats Odysseus men. However, Odysseus is still able to outsmart the Cyclops and save his men. He tells the Cyclops his name is Nobody so the other Cyclopes wont come to help him, he gets the Cyclops drunk, pokes out his eye, and escapes with his men underneath the sheep. Another time Odysseus shows his cleverness is when he doesnt enter the Laestrygonians harbor with his ship. The other ships enter the harbor and get pelted with huge boulders. Although Odysseus is smart, sometimes he has too much confidence when dealing with anything he may encounter, and as a result he puts his men in unnecessary danger. One example is when Odysseus insists on going into the Cyclops cave and eating his food. Although he doesnt know about the Cyclops and his ways, he shouldnt have relied on the common law of hospitality that he and his men would be welcome there. Another example is when Odysseus wastes time putting on his armor when he sails past Scylla, although he was instructed not to. Odysseus sometimes tries hard to protect his men. On Hyperions island, Odysseus knowingly warns his men not to slaughter the Sun Gods cattle. He does his best to stop his men, but the gods make him fall asleep, and his men disobey Odysseus. However, other times Odysseus does not keep his men out of danger. This can be seen in the incident with the Laestrygonians. All of the ships enter the harbor, but at the last minute O...