Odysseus: A compelling man

So far we have read a lot about Odysseus’s life after leaving the Troy and his many different journeys on his way back home. Odysseus in my opinion starts out as a great stand up character who is faithful, intelligent and compassionate. However in recent stories he proves himself otherwise. He tell of him and his shipmates not trusting each other enough to be able to hold a bag of wind a god gave him. This distrust results in the loss of many of his shipmates at sea and even more being lost in Aelo the land of the giants. As they are trapped, the giants tell them they must be hated by the gods so they will be eaten by the giants. This results in the loss of even more men who trust Odysseus, even thought his is not completely his fault, distrust and poor leadership has very bad outcomes. As the story continues he tells of how he sends him men out to find a place to stay (this is the second time he tells them to do this, the first time half of his men die), and they are greeted by a nymph who turns all of the men into pigs. Because of Odysseus’s absentmindedness more of his men fall to misfortune. Through threats Odysseus is able to turn his men back into men, he explains that everything is all good and they have all invited to stay at the nymphs home where has a continues affair with her for nearly a year. As I read more about Odysseus and his numerous travels the more I begin to question how much of a hero he really is.