When talking about Odysseus, people often describe him as heroic, courageous and intelligent. They recall the many incredible feats he accomplished, such as outwitting and blinding a Cyclops. They also mention Odysseus' brilliant idea about the Trojan horse that helped the Greeks defeat the Trojans. Even though Odysseus showed the makings of an excellent leader, his actions continually contradicted them. Throughout the Odyssey, Odysseus's tragic flaw, pride, drives him to act in ways that go against the definition of a good leader. He let arrogance interfere with his job of bringing his troops and himself home, and for that he is an inadequate commander. The reason it takes Odysseus twenty years to finally return home can be boiled down to the fact that had Odysseus and his team talked about something like their plan to return home, they probably would have arrived in Ithaca. The fact that Odysseus does not have a good relationship with his soldiers could come from arrogance. He probably thought he was too good to ask them what they thought the next course of action should be. In fact, in book ten, Odysseus' lack of communication cost the crew the fortune of finally being able to return home. They were on Aiolos Hippotades, the island of the king of the wind, and he gave Odysseus a bag of winds, so that only the west wind remained to float their sails. Odysseus decided not to tell anyone that they shouldn't open it and fell asleep instead. He explains that temptation drives the crew to untie the bag, as they grunt, “'It never fails. (Ulysses) is welcome everywhere: salute to the captain when he disembarks! He brought so many gifts, plunder to Troy, that's all. And us, his comrades until the end? Near us, we are empty-handed. And who has gifts from Aiolos? He has. I say we should break this bag, there is gold and silver in abundance in this bag” (Book 10, lines 43-50). After releasing all the winds, the ship is brought back by sea, thus causing the crew to lose the nine days of travel they had made. The crew's belief that they are not receiving any gifts further proves Odysseus's incompetence as a commander. Odysseus and his men were preparing to leave Circe's house when his youngest soldier fell from a roof and died. Homer writes of the story: "Among them the youngest was Elpênor – neither a pillar in a fight nor very intelligent – ​​and this, after having climbed on the roof of Kirkê to taste the freshness of the night, fell asleep with wine. Awakened by our morning voices and the trampling of the men below, he got up, but missed his foot on the long, steep ladder and fell headlong. The blow broke his neck and his ghost fled into the darkness” (Book 10, lines 609-618). Odysseus doesn't bother to make sure his entire crew is with him when he leaves and so he doesn't discover Elpênor until he sees him in the underworld. A good commander must always know when and where his crew members are. Odysseus leaves one behind and doesn't even remember him until he sees his ghost and sees what a terrible leader he can be.