Brave and Confident Odysseus

In the novel, “The Odyssey,” the author Homer wants us to understand that Odysseus uses strong leadership to overcome challenges and save his crew. Throughout the book, Odysseus’ main goal was to get himself and his crew mates back to Troy, their home land. Odysseus attempted to achieve this by being an effective leader that was determined and committed to leading his crew mates to survival.

One example of when Odysseus used strong leadership to save his crew was when they were on the land of the Lotus eaters and his men consumed the intoxicating and distracting Lotus. For instance, the novel states, “I drove them, all three wailing, to the ships,/ tied them down under their rowing benches,/ and called the rest: 'All hands aboard;/ come, clear the beach and no one taste/ the Lotus, or you lose your hope of home” (IX. 106-110).

Homer uses the words “drove them” and “tied them down” to describe Odysseus’ actions as a strong leader. Odysseus purposely forces his crew mates to leave the island and stop consuming the lotus so they would continue their journey and not just give up their memory of family and home. This correlates with Odysseus using strong leadership as he was responsible by guiding his men away from the harmful and toxic lotus, which at the end saved his men and helped them overcome a challenging obstacle.

As the novel unfolds Homer demonstrates that Odysseus’ character develops as a stronger leader since he learns to make his crews survival a priority no matter the situation. Another example of when Odysseus uses strong leadership to help rescue his crew was when they got trapped in the Cyclops's cave. For example, in the book it states, “My name is Nohbdy: mother, father, and friends,/ everyone calls me Nohbdy… Drunk, hiccuping,/ took him like any creature of liquor and bits of men./ Now, by the gods, I drove my big hand spike/ deep in the embers, charing it again,/ and cheered my men along with battle talk/ to keep their courage up: no quitting now.” (IX. 397-398 and 404-409).

Homer uses the words, “courage” and “cheered my men” to show that Odysseus remains confident and is able to encourage his men to keep fighting in the difficult situation. In this situation, Odysseus’ quick thinking allowed him to trick the Cyclops and create a plan to escape the cave which ended up saving all of his companions from certain death with the Cyclops.

This refers to how Odysseus used strong leadership to save his crew when they were in danger with the Cyclops as his wise planning and determination encouraged his men and ended up saving them from potentially dying. Overall, Homer portrays many examples throughout the book supporting the idea that Odysseus uses strong leadership to overcome challenges and save his crew.

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