Mentor (Greek myth)

For other uses, see Mentor (disambiguation).

In Greek mythology, Mentor (Ancient Greek: Μέντωρ, Méntōr; gen.: Μέντορος) was attributed to the following characters:

• Mentor, the Thespian son of Heracles and Asopis,^[1] daughter of King Thespius of Thespiae.^[2] Mentor and his 49 half-brothers were born of Thespius' daughters who were impregnated by Heracles in one night,^[3] for a week^[4] or in the course of 50 days^[5] while hunting for the Cithaeronian lion.^[6] Later on, the hero sent a message to Thespius to keep seven of these sons and send three of them in Thebes while the remaining forty, joined by Iolaus, were dispatched to the island of Sardinia to found a colony.^[7]
• Mentor, a prince of Tiryns as son of King Eurystheus and Antimache, daughter of Amphidamas of Arcadia. He was the brother of Admete,^[8] Alexander, Iphimedon, Eurybius and Perimedes. Mentor was killed in battle by the Athenians along with his brothers in the war that ensued when Athens refused to deliver the Heracleidae up to Eurystheus.^[9][10] Eurypylus, who was slain by Heracles, may also be one his brothers.^[11]
• Mentor (Odyssey), son of Alcimus, friend of Odysseus and tutor of Telemachus in the Odyssey.^[12]
• Mentor, a man who was rich in horse at Pedaeus. He was the father of the spearman Imbrius, an ally of the Trojans.^[13]

Notes

1. Apollodorus, 2.7.8
2. Apollodorus, 2.4.10
3. Pausanias, 9.27.6–7; Gregorius Nazianzenus, Orat. IV, Contra Julianum I (Migne S. Gr. 35.661)
4. Athenaeus, 13.4 with Herodorus as the authority; Diodorus Siculus, 4.29.3, f.n. 51
5. Apollodorus, 2.4.10; Diodorus Siculus, 4.29.3; Tzetzes, Chiliades 2.224
6. Apollodorus, 2.4.9–10
7. Apollodorus, 2.7.6
8. Apollodorus, 2.5.9
9. Apollodorus, 2.8.1 & 3.9.2
10. Diodorus Siculus, 4.57
11. Athenaeus, 4.158 (p. 219)
12. Homer, Odyssey 2.255 & 268
13. Homer, Iliad 13.171

References

• Apollodorus, The Library with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. ISBN 0-674-99135-4. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Greek text available from the same website.
• Athenaeus of Naucratis, The Deipnosophists or Banquet of the Learned. London. Henry G. Bohn, York Street, Covent Garden. 1854. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Athenaeus of Naucratis, Deipnosophistae. Kaibel. In Aedibus B.G. Teubneri. Lipsiae. 1887. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Diodorus Siculus, The Library of History translated by Charles Henry Oldfather. Twelve volumes. Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. 1989. Vol. 3. Books 4.59–8. Online version at Bill Thayer's Web Site
• Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica. Vol 1-2. Immanel Bekker. Ludwig Dindorf. Friedrich Vogel. in aedibus B. G. Teubneri. Leipzig. 1888-1890. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Homer, The Iliad with an English Translation by A.T. Murray, Ph.D. in two volumes. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1924. ISBN 978-0674995796. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Homer, Homeri Opera in five volumes. Oxford, Oxford University Press. 1920. ISBN 978-0198145318. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Homer, The Odyssey with an English Translation by A.T. Murray, PH.D. in two volumes. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1919. ISBN 978-0674995611. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Greek text available from the same website.
• Pausanias, Description of Greece with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918. ISBN 0-674-99328-4. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
• Pausanias, Graeciae Descriptio. 3 vols. Leipzig, Teubner. 1903. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Tzetzes, John, Book of Histories, Book II-IV translated by Gary Berkowitz from the original Greek of T. Kiessling's edition of 1826. Online version at theio.com