The Odyssey Group

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torso2
Student
High School - 11th Grade

In these adventures, how does Odysseus show himself to be an effective leader?

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Posted by torso2 on Thursday March 26, 2009 at 5:28 AM and tagged with leader, odysseus, the odyssey.

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  1. troutmiller Teacher
    High School - 12th Grade

    eNotes Editor

    One of the best places to see the different qualities of Odysseus is when he's in Polyphemus' cave.  He is corned there with his men and are all eventually going to be eaten if he can't find a way out.  Odysseus comes up with a plan, off the top of his head, to get Polyphemus to fall asleep (wine) and then blind him.  They are trapped inside because the door is a gigantic rock that none of his men can roll.  Only Polyphemus can move it for them.  So he is smart enough not to kill the cyclops, but blind him.  Tricking Polyphemus into drinking the wine, sharpening the huge tree trunk into a spear, and then successfully driving it into the eye of the cyclops shows not only guile but strength and leadership. 

    The last idea he came up with there was tying his men under sheep to escape when Polyphemus let his sheep out to graze.  He would never feel the men, only the tops of the sheep.  These intelligent plans and then the carrying out of them shows great leadership.  He was very effective in getting the majority of his men out of there, when in any other situation, most of the men would die in there and never get out.

    Sources:
    http://www.enotes.com/odyssey/book-9-summary-analysis

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    Posted by troutmiller on Saturday March 28, 2009 at 4:29 AM