As we have articulated, one of the challenges of the traditional mentoring model resides in the being-all-things to another set of assumptions built into it. The traditional mentor is understood as a single person who will be there without fail for another as wise guide, feeling counselor, committed coach, protector, professional sponsor, developmental teacher, critical advisor, etc. The traditional mentor is expected to form an unbreakable relationship that, in the language of our relationship-rich model, trends to the positive extreme in all relational and all functional characteristics. 

From where did this model of mentoring arise and become dominant? 

The time-worn response to this question is Homer’s The Odyssey. More specifically, the model is referenced in the character of Mentor, friend of Odysseus who was left to oversee the development of Telemachus, Odysseus’ son, and Odysseus’ household during his voyages. If you recall the story, though, you might be left scratching your head. After Odysseus has left, his household becomes a chaotic mess. Hardly the work of a wise mentor. You may also recall that Mentor plays a relatively quiet and unimpressive role throughout the tale. He does when he is “Mentor”; however, where Mentor assumes a significant guiding role is in those moments when Pallas Athene takes on Mentor’s form.  

It is generally overlooked that Athene has assumed Mentor’s form when he shows wise counsel and guidance (Homer, Books 2-4, 22). It is also often overlooked that she assumes many forms as she works to guide both Telemachus and Odysseus. Primary among these other forms Athene takes is as Mentes, king of the Taphians and family friend of Odysseus, especially in Book 1. However, Athene also assumes many forms, including that of a seagull, the daughter of a ship’s captain, a young shepherd, a swallow, and the daughter of King Icarius (Roberts 2024).  

“Mentor” is not a character, per se, in The Odyssey but, rather, a function. Furthermore, the function of the mentor in The Odyssey is not fulfilled by a single character. The function of the mentor is achieved through a constellation of characters. That is, the tale depicts the function of the mentor as one carried out by a range of different characters capable of intervening—of engaging in mentoring roles—in many different ways. 

As discussed by many, the figuration of a mentor in a single wise counselor was the invention of The Enlightenment (Clark 1984; Felson 2023; Garvey 2023; Roberts 2024). Fenelon’s Les Adventures de Telemaque, published in 1699, was a retelling of Homer’s epic as a method for instructing young royalty (Roberts 2024, 5). It was not only the most reprinted book in the eighteenth century, but it became the inspiration for Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s 1762 Émile; or, On Education, as well as a number of leading educational books of the period (Roberts 2024, 5; Garvey 2023, 8). It was not until the mid-1700s after Fenelon’s book was translated into English that the word “mentor” was even recorded in the English language (Roberts 2024; Garvey 2023). 

In Fenelon’s retelling, however, Mentor retains a singular character throughout, rather than functioning through a constellation of characters. Fenelon’s tale, and more specifically his refigured character of Mentor, is designed to instruct in the characteristics of an ideal monarch. This characterization reflects the ideals of The Enlightenment subject: self-reliant, free from the influences of tradition, rational, and free to pursue through independent critical thinking and reason what is right and good. In one unified human subject, rather than a constellation of diverse subjects, all the characteristics of an ideal mentor reside in Fenelon’s retelling of the story. 

In contrast, Athene, in her many guises, plays out a range of mentoring functions, none played by a singular character. For instance, as Mentes, we see Athene use critical questioning to guide Telemachus’ thinking and behaviors. In the form of Mentor, we see Athene model proactive behaviors. Through other forms, Athene offers moral support and confirms the value of Telemachus’ identity. These relationships also extend and develop across the entirety of the epic poem, rather than being depicted as fleeting guiding gestures. These relational functions and characteristics reflect the elements we build into our model and relationship-rich map. 

The constellation model being developed in contemporary work on mentoring reflects the mentor function in Homer’s The Odyssey, as portrayed through a variety of characters all serving different mentoring roles. The age-worn reference to The Odyssey may be spot on, but with a twist in its typical understanding. It is not a singular character who portrays the mentoring ideal but a constellation of characters to whom Telemachus and Odysseus must remain open and engaged. Rather than privileging a mentor, Homer encourages the development of extended relationships with a constellation of characters who, together, serve the mentoring function. 

References 

Clarke, Priscilla P. 1984. “The Metamorphoses of Mentor: Fénelon to Balzac.” The Romantic Review 75 (2): 200–215. 

Felson, Nancy. 2023. “Multi-layered Mentoring in the Odyssey.” In Γέρα: Studies in Honor of Professor Menelaos Christopoulos, edited by Athina Papachrysostomou, Andreas P. Antonopoulos, Alexandros-Fotios Mitsis, Fay Papadimitriou, and Panagiota Taktikou. Special issue, Classics@ 25. https://nrs.harvard.edu/URN-3:HLNC.ESSAY:103900172.  

Garvey, Bob. 2023. “Mentoring Origins and Evolution.” In Making Connections: A Handbook for Effective Formal Mentoring Programs in Academia, edited by David Law and Nora Domínguez, 5–32. Logan, UT: Utah State University. https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/makingconnections/3. 

Homer. 2007. The Odyssey. Translated and with an introduction by Richmond Lattimore. New York: HarperCollins. 

Roberts, Andy. 2024. “Homer’s Mentor: Duties Fulfilled or Misconstrued?” History of Education Journal.   

About the Authors 

Tim Peeples is Senior Associate Provost Emeritus and Professor of Humanities at Elon University. He also holds the position of Senior Scholar in the Center for Engaged Learning. 

Learn more about the authors and the Mentoring Matters project. 

How to Cite this Post

Peeples, Tim. 2025. “Returning to a Constellation Model: Mentor, Mentoring, and The Odyssey.” In Mentoring Matters: Supporting Students’ Development of Mentoring Constellations in Higher Education. Elon University Center for Engaged Learning. https://www.centerforengagedlearning.org/returning-to-a-constellation-model-mentor-mentoring-and-the-odyssey.