‘Royal son of Laertes, Odysseus, man of tactics, reckless friend, what next, Quoted from book 11, one of the many complements Odysseus receives on his quest to Ithaca. Many praise the war hero, his men, gods, lovers, etc., I too believed he was a great leader. Reading into books 9-12 my love for the character soured as I realized he is a selfish, wealth hungry and shallow leader. Scratching the surface of Odysseus, accomplishments and conquering skills shower the reader, giving the impression that he is godly. In my previous blog I believed he was a god among the mortal, how times have changed.
I turn my focus to book 12, page 278, second stanza. At this point Odysseus is faced with Scylla and Charybdis, two monsters of the sea. Warned by Circe to sail past them, do not put up a fight, it is better to lose 6 men, than the entire crew. As he encounters the monsters, Odysseus does the exact opposite and donned his heroic armor. Knowing that the monsters are immortal he wants to put up a fight, Odysseus cocky and bold mindset shines through, believing he can sleigh the beast. There are times when you must yield, great leaders know of this. Gambling with your crews lives is a bet never taken by a worthy leader. Odysseus on the other hand begs to differ. Having heard that Argo was the only ship unscathed by the beasts, he wants to recreate the impossible, giving intentions to duel the beast. As they fight through the onslaught, Odysseus did not warn his crew of what was to come before hand. Expecting the beasts, the crew could’ve taken extra precaution when faced with the beast. This selfish act may have been the only option in order to restrain panic upon the crew members, however doing so gave his men an unequal survival rate.
The previous act is one of many where Odysseus puts himself before his comrades. It may seem he shows sympathy for his mates, however his duel personality is the Achilles heel in the novel. One minute he is a brave soldier, a respected and iron clad man, another he is filled with fury and greed. This leads the character to make foolish mistakes that are costly not only to his crew mates, but for his return home. Countless times in the novel the actions of Odysseus causes at least one death or mishap on his quest home. His weak mind and inability to lead is the main reason why his entire crew is dead. The entire first half of the novel is more than just reaching Ithaca, it describes the man of the hour, the one who caused peril for himself.