All Topics  
Mentor

 

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

Mentor
 
 
  Topics Mentor Topic Home

In Greek mythology
Greek mythology

Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the Ancient Greece concerning their List of Greek mythological figures#Immortals and Greek hero cult, Cosmology#Metaphysical cosmology, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices....
, Mentor (Greek
Greek language

Greek is an Indo-European languages native to the southern Balkan peninsula, the language of the Greek people. It forms an independent branch within Indo-European....
: ???t?? / Méntor) was the son of Alcumus
Alcumus

In Greek mythology, Alcumus, or ?lkimos, or Ankh?alos of Ithaca was the father of Mentor ....
 and, in his old age, a friend of Odysseus
Odysseus

Odysseus or Ulysses , in Greek mythology , was a legendary Greeks king of Ithaca and the hero of Homer's Epic poetry, the Odyssey. Odysseus also plays a key role in Homer's Iliad and other works in the Epic Cycle....
. When Odysseus left for the Trojan War
Trojan War

In Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans after Paris of Troy stole Helen from her husband Menelaus, the king of Sparta....
 he placed Mentor in charge of his son, Telemachus
Telemachus

Telemachus is a figure in Greek mythology, the son of Odysseus and Penelope, and a central character in Homer's Odyssey. The first four books in particular focus on Telemachus's journeys in search of news about his father; they are, therefore, traditionally accorded the collective title Telemachy....
, and of his palace. When Athena
Athena

In Greek mythology, Athena is the shrewd companion of Hero and the goddess of Hero endeavour. She is the virgin patron of Athens, which built the Parthenon to worship her....
 visited Telemachus she took the disguise of Mentor to hide herself from the suitors of Telemachus' mother Penelope
Penelope

In Homer's Odyssey, Penel?pe is the faithful wife of Odysseus, who keeps Suitors of Penelope at bay in his long absence and so is eventually rejoined with him....
. As Mentor, the goddess encourages Telemachus to stand up against the suitors and to go abroad in order to find out what happened to his father.

When Odysseus
Odysseus

Odysseus or Ulysses , in Greek mythology , was a legendary Greeks king of Ithaca and the hero of Homer's Epic poetry, the Odyssey. Odysseus also plays a key role in Homer's Iliad and other works in the Epic Cycle....
 returns to Ithaca
Ithaca

Ithaca or Ithaka is an island in the Ionian Sea, in Greece, with an area of 118 km? and three thousand inhabitants. It is an independent Communities and Municipalities of Greece of the prefecture of Kefalonia and Ithaka Prefecture, and lies off the northeast coast of Kefalonia....
, Athena (in the form of Mentor) and the suitors' arrows have no effect on him.

first recorded modern usage of the term can be traced to a book entitled "Les Aventures de Telemaque", by the French writer François Fénelon
François Fénelon

Fran?ois de Salignac de la Mothe-F?nelon, more commonly known as Fran?ois F?nelon , was a France Roman Catholic theology, poet and writer....
 In the book the lead character is that of Mentor.






Discussion
Ask a question about 'Mentor'
Start a new discussion about 'Mentor'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


In Greek mythology
Greek mythology

Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the Ancient Greece concerning their List of Greek mythological figures#Immortals and Greek hero cult, Cosmology#Metaphysical cosmology, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices....
, Mentor (Greek
Greek language

Greek is an Indo-European languages native to the southern Balkan peninsula, the language of the Greek people. It forms an independent branch within Indo-European....
: ???t?? / Méntor) was the son of Alcumus
Alcumus

In Greek mythology, Alcumus, or ?lkimos, or Ankh?alos of Ithaca was the father of Mentor ....
 and, in his old age, a friend of Odysseus
Odysseus

Odysseus or Ulysses , in Greek mythology , was a legendary Greeks king of Ithaca and the hero of Homer's Epic poetry, the Odyssey. Odysseus also plays a key role in Homer's Iliad and other works in the Epic Cycle....
. When Odysseus left for the Trojan War
Trojan War

In Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans after Paris of Troy stole Helen from her husband Menelaus, the king of Sparta....
 he placed Mentor in charge of his son, Telemachus
Telemachus

Telemachus is a figure in Greek mythology, the son of Odysseus and Penelope, and a central character in Homer's Odyssey. The first four books in particular focus on Telemachus's journeys in search of news about his father; they are, therefore, traditionally accorded the collective title Telemachy....
, and of his palace. When Athena
Athena

In Greek mythology, Athena is the shrewd companion of Hero and the goddess of Hero endeavour. She is the virgin patron of Athens, which built the Parthenon to worship her....
 visited Telemachus she took the disguise of Mentor to hide herself from the suitors of Telemachus' mother Penelope
Penelope

In Homer's Odyssey, Penel?pe is the faithful wife of Odysseus, who keeps Suitors of Penelope at bay in his long absence and so is eventually rejoined with him....
. As Mentor, the goddess encourages Telemachus to stand up against the suitors and to go abroad in order to find out what happened to his father.

When Odysseus
Odysseus

Odysseus or Ulysses , in Greek mythology , was a legendary Greeks king of Ithaca and the hero of Homer's Epic poetry, the Odyssey. Odysseus also plays a key role in Homer's Iliad and other works in the Epic Cycle....
 returns to Ithaca
Ithaca

Ithaca or Ithaka is an island in the Ionian Sea, in Greece, with an area of 118 km? and three thousand inhabitants. It is an independent Communities and Municipalities of Greece of the prefecture of Kefalonia and Ithaka Prefecture, and lies off the northeast coast of Kefalonia....
, Athena (in the form of Mentor) 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
François Fénelon

Fran?ois de Salignac de la Mothe-F?nelon, more commonly known as Fran?ois F?nelon , was a France Roman Catholic theology, poet and writer....
 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.

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
Mentoring

Mentorship refers to a developmental relationship in which a more experienced person helps a less experienced person, referred to as a prot?g?, apprentice, mentee, or being mentored, develop in a specified capacity....
 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. In many different arenas people have benefited from being part of a mentoring relationship, including:

  • Business people - Freddie Laker
    Freddie Laker

    Sir Frederick Alfred Laker was a United Kingdom airline entrepreneur, best known for founding Laker Airways in 1966, which went spectacularly bust in 1982....
     mentored Richard Branson
    Richard Branson

    Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson is an English business magnate, best known for his Virgin Group brand of over 360 companies. Branson's first successful business venture was at age 16, when he published a magazine called Student....
  • Politicians - Aristotle
    Aristotle

    Aristotle was a Greeks philosopher, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. He wrote on many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, Poetics , theater, music, logic, rhetoric, politics, government, ethics, biology and zoology....
     mentored Alexander the Great
    Alexander the Great

    Alexander the Great , also known as Alexander III of Macedon was an ancient Greeks King of Macedon . He was one of the most successful military commanders of all time and is presumed undefeated in battle....
  • Directors - Martin Scorsese
    Martin Scorsese

    Martin Marcantonio Luciano Scorsese is an Academy Award-winning American filmmaker, screenwriter, film producer, and film historian. Also affectionately known as "Marty", he is the founder of the World Cinema Foundation and a recipient of the AFI Life Achievement Award for his contributions to the cinema and has won awards from the Gol...
     mentored Oliver Stone
    Oliver Stone

    William Oliver Stone is an United Statesn film director and screenwriter. Stone came to prominence as a director with a series of films about the Vietnam War, in which he had participated as an American infantry soldier, and his work continues to focus frequently on contemporary political and cultural issues, often controversially....
     at New York University
    New York University

    New York University is a private university, nonsectarian, research university in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan....
  • Actors - Mel Gibson
    Mel Gibson

    Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson, Officer of the Order of Australia is an Australian-American actor, film director, film producer and screenwriter....
     mentored Heath Ledger
    Heath Ledger

    Heath Andrew Ledger was an Australian television and film actor. After performing roles in Australian television and film during the 1990s, Ledger moved to the United States in 1998 to develop his movie career....
  • Musicians - Johann Christian Bach
    Johann Christian Bach

    Johann Christian Bach was a composer of the Classical music era era, the eleventh and youngest son of Johann Sebastian Bach. He is sometimes referred to as 'the London Bach' or 'the English Bach', due to his time spent living in the British capital....
     mentored Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
    Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Mozart showed prodigious ability from his earliest childhood in Salzburg. Already competent on keyboard and violin, he composed from the age of five and performed before European royalty; at seventeen he was engaged as a court musician in Salzburg, but grew restless and traveled in search of a better position, always...
  • Athletes - Eddy Merckx
    Eddy Merckx

    Edouard Louis Joseph, Baron Merckx , is a Demographics of Belgium former professional cyclist. The French magazine V?lo called him "the most accomplished rider that cycling has ever known." The American publication, VeloNews, called him the greatest and most successful cyclist of all time....
     (five-time Tour de France winner) mentored Lance Armstrong
    Lance Armstrong

    Lance Armstrong is an United States professional Road bicycle racing who rides for UCI ProTeam Team Astana. He won the Tour de France a record-breaking seven consecutive years, from 1999 Tour de France to 2005 Tour de France....
     (seven-time Tour de France winner). Bobby Charlton
    Bobby Charlton

    Sir Robert "Bobby" Charlton Order of the British Empire is a former England professional association football player who won the FIFA World Cup and was named the European Footballer of the Year in 1966....
     mentored David Beckham
    David Beckham

    David Robert Joseph Beckham Order of the British Empire is an England association football who currently plays in midfielder for Italy Serie A club A.C....
  • Movies - Obi-wan Kenobi
    Obi-Wan Kenobi

    Obi-Wan Kenobi is a fictional character in the Star Wars Star Wars galaxy. He is one of the protagonists in the Star Wars film series; along with Anakin Skywalker, R2-D2, and C-3PO, he is one of the few major characters to appear in each of the six Star Wars films....
     mentored Anakin Skywalker
    Anakin Skywalker

    Anakin Skywalker is the protagonist in the Star Wars fictional universe. The Original trilogy and Prequel trilogy follow Anakin's rise as a vessel of The Force , his fall to the dark side, and his ultimate Redemption ....
     and his son Luke Skywalker
    Luke Skywalker

    Luke Skywalker is the main protagonist of the Star Wars films Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi....
  • Video Games - The Boss mentored Naked Snake. The latter's son, Solid Snake
    Solid Snake

    is a Character and the main protagonist of the Metal Gear series of video games created by Hideo Kojima and published by Konami. Introduced in the 1987 video game Metal Gear, Solid Snake is a combination spy, special operations agent, and mercenary who works for FOXHOUND, a fictional black ops and espionage unit, and Philanthropy in late...
    , mentored Raiden
    Raiden (Metal Gear)

    , whose real name is 'Jack', is a character in the Metal Gear series. He is the protagonist of the Plant Chapter, the main act of Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, and a character in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots....
    .


Mentoree (or mentee)

The student of a mentor is called a protégé or mentoree. More accurately, for the recondite, the protégé would be called the telemachus (pl. telemachuses or telemaches). 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
English language

English is a West Germanic language that originated in Anglo-Saxon England and has lingua franca status in many parts of the world as a result of the military, economic, scientific, political and cultural influence of the British Empire in the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries and that of the United States from the mid 20th century onwa...
 words such as contractor
Independent contractor

An independent contractor is a natural person, business, or corporation which provides good or Service to another entity under terms specified in a contract or within a verbal agreement....
 or actor
Actor

An actor or actress is a person who acting in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio programming in that capacity....
. The derivation
Derivation

Derivation may refer to:* Derivation , a function on an algebra which generalizes certain features of the derivative operator* Derivation * Derivation in differential algebra, a unary function satisfying the Leibniz product law...
 of mentee from mentor is therefore an example of backformation (cf. employer and employee).

See also

  • Mentoring
    Mentoring

    Mentorship refers to a developmental relationship in which a more experienced person helps a less experienced person, referred to as a prot?g?, apprentice, mentee, or being mentored, develop in a specified capacity....
  • Youth mentoring
    Youth mentoring

    Youth mentoring is the process of matching mentors with young people who need or want a caring, responsible adult in their lives. Adult mentors are usually unrelated to the child or teen and work as volunteers through a community-, school-, or church-based social service program....
  • Peer mentoring
    Peer mentoring

    Peer Mentoring is a form of mentoring that takes place in learning environments such as schools, usually between an older more experienced student and a new student....
  • Coaching
    Coaching

    Coaching is a method of directing, instructing and training a person or group of people, with the aim to achieve some goal or develop specific skills....
  • Tutor
    Tutor

    In British, Australian, New Zealand, Italian, and some Canadian university, a tutor is often but not always a postgraduate student or a lecturer assigned to conduct a seminar for undergraduate students, often known as a tutorial....
  • MENTOR
    Mentor

    In Greek mythology, Mentor 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....
  • eMentors
    EMentors

    eMentors are students that teach the teachers to use technology appropriately. This refers to a developmental relationship in which the more experienced students help a less experienced teacher, to develop their use of technology in the classroom or workshop....
  • Maybach Foundation


External links