From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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.
- 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).
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