Mentor

In Greek mythology, Mentor (Greek: Μέντωρ / Méntōr; gen.: Μέντορος)^[1] 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.^[2] As Mentor, the goddess encourages Telemachus to stand up against the suitors and go abroad to find out what happened to his father.

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.

Mentor as term

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^[3] 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.^[3]

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, who advise them and serve as examples as they advance. Schools sometimes offer mentoring programs to new students, or students having difficulties.

Today mentors provide expertise to less experienced individuals to help them advance their careers, enhance their education, and build their networks. In many different arenas people have benefited from being part of a mentoring relationship, including:

• Authors — H.P. Lovecraft mentored Robert Bloch, Clark Ashton Smith, and Robert E. Howard
• Business people — Freddie Laker mentored Richard Branson
• Politicians — Aristotle mentored Alexander the Great
• Directors — Roger Corman mentored Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, Ron Howard, Peter Bogdanovich, Jonathan Demme, Joe Dante, James Cameron, John Sayles, Donald G. Jackson, Gale Anne Hurd, Carl Colpaert, Monte Hellman, Paul Bartel, George Armitage, Jonathan Kaplan, George Hickenlooper, Curtis Hanson, and Jack Hill. Martin Scorsese mentored Oliver Stone at New York University
• Actors — Laurence Olivier mentored Anthony Hopkins. Martin Landau mentored Jack Nicholson. Mel Gibson mentored Heath Ledger
• Musicians — Johann Christian Bach mentored Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. José Antonio Abreu mentored Gustavo Dudamel. Dr. Dre mentors Eminem. Denniz Pop mentored Max Martin. David Foster mentored Josh Groban
• Athletes — Eddy Merckx (five-time Tour de France winner) mentored Lance Armstrong (seven-time Tour de France winner). Bobby Charlton mentored David Beckham
• Movies — Obi-wan Kenobi mentored Anakin Skywalker and his son Luke Skywalker
• Television — Perry Cox mentored J.D. (Scrubs)
• Video Games — The Boss mentored Naked Snake. The latter's son, Solid Snake, mentored Raiden. Samos mentored Jak in the stead of his father.
• Poetry — Seamus Heaney mentored Paul Muldoon.

"Mentee"

The student of a mentor is called a protégé. More accurately, for the recondite, the protégé would be called the telemachus (pl. telemachuses or telemachi). Sometimes, the protégé is also called a mentee. 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 actor. The derivation of mentee from mentor is therefore an example of backformation (cf. employer and employee).

See also

• Mentoring
• Youth mentoring
• Peer mentoring
• Coaching
• Tutor
• MENTOR
• eMentors
• Maybach Foundation

External links

• Mentorship: A Selected Bibliography
• 2009 USA Today article on how successful women are mentored mostly by men
• [1]

References