A strong will, intelligence, and safety are all mandatory characteristics in the survival of a group, but if you take those traits away, is there still chance at flourishing? In Homer’s epic poem the Odyssey, he demonstrates how even with a brave, all-inspiring leader, you must have a crew who obtains these basic characteristics to survive. The demise of Odysseus’s men was their own fault; due to their lack of willpower, foolishness, and vulnerability.

First of all, the men showed blatant signs of a lack of will. When Odysseus and his men were on Thrinacia, island of the sun god Helios, they had orders not to eat any of the native cattle. However, when Odysseus was asleep, one man stood up and said, “Better open your lungs to a big sea once for all than waste to skin and bones on a lonely island!” (12.685-86). Thus, they feasted on the cattle, which ends up getting them cursed by Helios himself. Additionally, when the faction came upon the island of the lotus-eaters, the men “fell in, soon enough, with the lotus” (9.658). This revealed that when the men were offered the poisonous flower, they didn’t have the strength to resist it, showing another weakness to their willpower.

Secondly, the men were very foolish. When Odysseus and his men land on Aeaea, home of the goddess Circe, she offers them inside to eat, and the men didn’t think twice. As Aeaea served the men “scarse had they drunk when she flew after them with her long stick and shut them in a pigsty” (11.674-75). This exposes how thoughtless the men could be to trust this witch, as well as consume her offerings without any consideration. Another example, was when the fleet sailed away from Aeolia, island of the wind king Aeolus. He agreed to do the group a deed and bounds up all the winds ahead of them into a bull’s-hide bag, making their journey safe and painless. As they were smoothly sailing, the men thought Odysseus was hiding treasure  “and they opened the bag and all the winds burst out” (10.46-49) sending them back to Aeolia. This reveals the greed and stupidity of the men, diverting the entire voyage over chances at a mere sack of gold.

Finally, the men were exceedingly vulnerable to demise among the journey. As the crew has no choice but to cross the deadly Scylla, Odysseus, knowing what was coming “told them nothing, as they could do nothing” (12.682-83). This shows that there wasn’t anything Odysseus, nor his men could do. They were bound to face the Scylla and he knew that men would die. On top of this, the team was unfortunate enough to encounter Polyphemus the cyclops. As he traps Odysseus and his men to eat, he “clutched at my companions and caught two in his hands like squirming puppies to beat their brains out” (9.663-64). The group was just adverse enough to encounter the cyclops, who didn’t believe in hospitality to guests, making the men easy bait to be killed.

As you can see, the evidence is clear that the demise of Odysseus’s men was their own fault as a result of their lack of willpower, excessive foolishness, and vulnerability. Odysseus was a powerful leader, who although somewhat flawed, did not lead his crew to their death. The chances of survival for Odysseus’s men was futile being they lacked the essential qualities of an effective unit.