In the classic poem and plays Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare, Oedipus the King by Sophocles, and The Odyssey by Homer, the main characters are leaders with varying successes. Julius Caesar is killed by his own "friends", Oedipus gouges out his eyes, and Odysseus faces many setbacks, but manages to return home. All these classic heroes had one thing in common. This was the fact that they sought to lead through domination. In William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, Sophocles' Oedipus the King, and Homer's The Odyssey, all the heroes attempt to lead their people through domination. First, in William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, leadership is expressed as domination. The first way leadership presents itself in Julius Caesar is through the domination of the common people. In the first lines of the play, Marullo, an upper class man, tells the people; “Go away!/Run to your homes, kneel down,/Pray to the gods to stop the plague/Let the seeds be kindled on this ingratitude.” Here domination leads the plebeians to do what Marullus wants to do. Furthermore, dominion reigns over the common people when Mark Antony uses his speech to control the actions of the plebeians; "I will do them no harm; I would rather / do harm to the dead, myself and thee, / Than do harm to such honorable men" (III.ii.145 ​​Shakespeare). Here Mark Antony, using obvious allusions, leads the people of Rome to believe that if they agreed with Brutus and Cassius they would be wronging the dead, Mark Antony and themselves. Mark Antony then uses this fire he has lit to cause the people to mutiny. In this case, Mark Antony uses his speech to dominate the feelings and, ultimately, actions of ordinary people... middle of paper... situations, ultimately killing them all. For example, when Odysseus dominates the actions of the crew and leads them to kill the second of the sea monsters, killing most of his crew for no reason other than pride. In the epic, he plays Julius Caesar, The Odyssey and Oedipus Rex's leadership is expressed through domination. Julius Caesar was eventually stabbed for his rule over his people. Oedipus ended up in chaos by gouging out his own eyes attempting to master his destiny, and Odysseus arrived home, but at the expense of his entire crew, through his acts of complete and total domination over those around him. Although many of the classical heroes showed their leadership through the dominance of others and their ideas, they all ended up in bad shape. This is a clear message to everyone who reads these works: dominance is not the way to lead.