Articulating a Vision for the Community

1. Accountability/follow-through

1.1. In The Iliad Achilles swears revenge against Hector for killing Patroclus. To act on this he battles Hector to the death and after defeating him, he drags his body behind his chariot. In this example, Achilles is displaying his commitment to following through with goals that he has set. It shows his determination, that he is an accountable character who will persevere until his goal is realized.

1.2. After Medea comes home with Jason after his voyage they start a family with two sons. The two of them committed to a life together, especially Medea, who has forsaken her homeland, however Jason decides to leave her to marry Glauce, a princess, under the guise that it's better for his family. This shows a serious lack of accountability to family on Jason's part, and ironically the very action he said was for the benefit of them tears their family apart. This example can show us that Jason did articulate his vision for the community (his family), however he failed to follow through with his original vision. In other words, Jason failed as leader to his family, abandoning the shared vision, leaving them to fend for themselves. (Medea, Lines 441-1008)

1.3. In Book 9 of The Odyssey, Odysseus and his men are trapped in the Cyclopes' cave and they would all be eaten if they stayed. So Odysseus created a plan to blind the cyclopes and tie his men to the sheep and ride out whenever he opened his cave. While this was successful, multiple of Odysseus' men were eaten before they could escape, and as they were sailing away, the cyclops called out to his father, Poseidon to curse their voyage. (Odyssey Book 9)

2. Determination/Commitment

2.1. After her husband's death, Dido is determined to build up Carthage as she wants to preserve the memory of him. This is showing both commitment and dedication towards Carthage, as she is sacrificing her personal life, in order to make sure her people prosper. (The Aeneid, assumed to have happened before Aeneas came in Book 3 and mentioned by Dido in Book 4)

2.2. After traveling for ten years, Odysseus finally returns home after suffering through multiple tragedies, such as The Cyclops and Scylla. Upon entering his home he is greeted by many suitors who are trying to court his wife and steal his estate. However, because Odysseus has learned resilience and determination to get through tough situations along his journey, he commits to slaughtering the suitors, and take back his wife, son, and his homeland of Ithaca. He does all of this for the sake of his vision of Ithica (Odyssey Books 21, 22, and 23)

2.3. King Priam is so determined to retrieve Hector's corpse that he walks through the Achaian army camp. He does this so he can give Hector a proper burial. It surprises/impacts many of the soldiers and even Achilles himself (Illiad Book 24)

2.4. Clytemnestra goes as far as murdering her own husband as long as it satisfies the condition of her vision of her future. This backfires in the end since her son wants to kill her now. (Agamemnon, Lines 1331-1576)

3. Defintion: A strong leader should be able to articulate their vision and set the standard for which others are held to and remind others of what they are working towards. A leader should inspire others with their aspirations and join them under one banner and they should also be a strong orator.

4. Inspiration

4.1. While stuck on the Island of the Sun, waiting for the wind to change directions in order to allow the men to return to sailing, Odysseus talks to his men about they are forbidden to slaughter the God's cattle and how they are going to make it home before, taking a nap. Unfortunately, during this nap, Eurylochus convinces the other men to kill and eat some of the cows. This results in Zeus sending a massive storm, destroying the ship, and killing everyone but Odysseus. In this example, Odysseus tries to articulate a vision for his men (the community), but Odysseus could not convince/inspire them to continue to do the right thing, leading to them killing the cattle, and eventually their deaths. (Odyssey Book 12)

4.2. Jupiter told Aeneas to continue on his journey, and to not delay in Carthage with Dido. He inspired him to continue to lead his people to their homeland and not give up because of love. Jupiter is the sole reason that Aeneas has a vision in the first place, he is simply reminding him to commit to it. (Aeneid Book 4)

4.3. Calypso inspires Odysseus and his crew to continue their journey, telling them how to succeed. This plan fails because Odysseus does not listen. In this way, Calypso's attempt to articulate a vision for the community is ineffective. (Odyssey Book 5-6)

5. Clarity

5.1. Aeneas does not clarify his need to leave properly and instead makes numerous people fall for him, which leads to lots of tragedy, most prominently Dido's suicide. If Aeneas was able to actually talk to Dido about how he could not stay in Carthage rather than having sex with her than maybe it would have worked out better. He has a vision, but he needs to be vocal about it. (Aeneid Book 5)

5.2. Hector is direct to his troops and brother on why they should fight. He uses clear speech playing to emotions and motivating troops for a common cause. Hector and Paris are fighting for their city and the future of their families. Hector is reminding his people exactly what they should be fighting for. Creating this dream and using it to inspire his men is the epitome of what a leader should do. (Illiad Books 2, 3, and 6)