Mentor

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For other uses, see Mentor (disambiguation).

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In Greek mythology, Mentor (sometimes Mentês) was the son of Alcumus and, in his old age, a friend of Odysseus. When Odysseus left for the Trojan War he placed Mentor in charge of his son, Telemachus, and of his palace. When Athena visited Telemachus she took the disguise of Mentor to hide herself from the suitors of Telemachus' mother Penelope. (See Odyssey Book II, lines 255 and 268.) When Odysseus returns to Ithaca, Athena (in the form of Mentor) takes the form of a swallow and the suitors' arrows have no effect on him.

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"Telemachus and Mentor" Illustration for "Les Aventures de Telemaque"

The first recorded modern usage of the term can be traced to a book entitled "Les Aventures de Telemaque", by the French writer François Fénelon ^[1]. In the book the lead character is that of Mentor. This book was published in 1699 and was very popular during the 18th century and the modern application of the term can be traced to this publication ^[1].

This is the source of the modern use of the word mentor: a trusted friend, counselor or teacher, usually a more experienced person. Some professions have "mentoring programs" in which newcomers are paired with more experienced people in order to obtain good examples and advice as they advance, and schools sometimes have mentoring programs for new students or students who are having difficulties.

Today mentors provide their expertise to less experienced individuals in order to help them advance their careers, enhance their education, and build their networks. Many of the world's most successful people have benefited from having a mentor including:

business people - Freddie Laker mentored Richard Branson
politicians - Aristotle mentored Alexander the Great
actors - Mel Gibson mentored Heath Ledger
athletes - Eddy Merckx (five-time Tour de France winner) mentored Lance Armstrong (seven-time Tour de France winner).

Fictionally, a mentor is a common character in the hero's journey.

Mentor is also the name of two different leaders in the Trojan War:

King of the Cicones (according to the Iliad.)
King of the Taphians (according to the Odyssey.)

Historically, Mentor of Rhodes was a Greek mercenary who at various times fought either for or against Artaxerxes III.

[edit] Mentoree (sometimes called mentee)

The student of a mentor is called a protégé or mentoree. Most accurately, for the recondite, the protege would be called the telemachus (plural, telemachuses or telemaches). Sometimes, the protégeé is also called a "mentee.". The derivation of mentee (as opposed to mentoree) from mentor is an example of backformation, since the -or ending of the original name Mentor does not have the meaning of "the one who does something", as in other English words such as contractor or simulator. Other examples include, "Employer" and "Employee" and "Nominator" and "Nominee".