January 18: International Mentoring Day

It took Trojan War-hero Odysseus ten years to come home to his kingdom of Ithaca. All of this time, his wife Penelope held off dozens of suitors, hoping to gain the crown themselves. Their son Telemachos grew up without a father, but with a powerful ally. The goddess of war and wisdom, Athena, always had a soft spot for Odysseus, and extended her affection to the son. In the disguise of Odysseus’ friend Mentor, she advised and supported him. (She didn’t care much for Penelope, though, who should sit straight and keep quiet, as far as she was concerned.) In the guise of Mentor, Athena stood by Telemachos when the suitors mocked him, and she sailed out with him to look for his father. So far so good. Her “mentorship” became questionable though, when Odysseus came back, and she encouraged him to start a full blown war against his own aristocracy. Ironically, Athena then hurried to her own father, supreme god Zeus, to fix things. Zeus slung some thunderbolts, proclaimed peace and that was that. So far for the mentoring.