Mentors, Mentor Substitutes, or Virtual Mentors: Alternative Mentoring Approaches for the Military

In Homer’s Odyssey, when Odysseus left his kingdom of Ithaca for the legendary war with Troy, he consigned his son and heir, Telemachus, to the wise and experienced care of his friend and colleague, Mentor. In the ensuing twenty years of Odysseus’ absence, Mentor oversaw Telemachus’ training in the arts of war and kingship and supported him against opposing countrymen in the governing assembly.