Mentorship must ‘stir a man to greater strength and put courage in his heart.’
“No longer, Telemachus, will you be foolish or weak,
if the bold courage of your father has taken root in your heart—
the same courage with which he fought and spoke.
Then your journey will not fail, nor will it be in vain.”
These words, from the second book of Homer’s Odyssey (in Toma Maretić’s famed translation), are spoken by Mentor—Odysseus’ old friend—to the hero’s son, Telemachus. Before setting sail, Odysseus entrusted Mentor with “his whole household, to guard all things steadfastly.” But he also gave him something far more precious: his son. Mentor’s task was to embolden the boy, to guide him on a heroic path, to be a second father.
And 2,800 years later, this remains one of the purest definitions of mentorship. Odysseus was gone for two decades, yet his trust was so absolute that a single name became synonymous with an entire noble calling. Mentorship is crucial for anyone striving to advance—not just in their career, but in life itself.
Why Mentorship Wins
Over two-thirds of Fortune 500 companies have mentorship programs. Their employees are five times more likely to get promoted, and long-term retention jumps by 20%. For millennials, the numbers are even starker: half are more likely to stay past five years if their company offers strong mentorship (Deloitte Millennial Survey, 2016).
And it’s not just for beginners. A Harvard Business Review study (Suzanne de Janasz & Maury Peiperl) found that 84% of U.S. CEOs credit mentors with helping them avoid costly mistakes, while 69% say they make better decisions because of them.
Serbia’s Mentorship Stars
Even here, we have standout programs. Two of the best—run by the American Chamber of Commerce and the Serbian Association of Managers (SAM)—target young managers and final-year business students. Hundreds have passed through these programs, gaining skills, networks, and market savvy from mentors they’d otherwise never access: tech experts, corporate leaders, communication gurus. Recently, SAM even opened mentorship to exceptional entrepreneurs and startup founders—a chance the first two cohorts seized eagerly. Combined, these programs have reached nearly 500 young talents and seasoned professionals.
The Catch: Mentorship Isn’t About Numbers
But mentorship is more than metrics. Take The Odyssey itself: by the time the epic really gets going, Mentor has already failed. Odysseus’ house is overrun by Penelope’s suitors, the storerooms are looted, Telemachus flees by sea, and Mentor? Nowhere to be found. So why, then, do we name this role after such a lackluster figure?
The answer hides in the text: “Athena took Mentor’s form, his voice, his very frame.” Though Mentor had the credentials—age, wisdom, noble birth—it was Athena, goddess of wisdom, disguised as him, who truly stirred Telemachus’ courage.
The Real Lesson
Being a mentor isn’t about titles or experience. It’s about becoming the vessel—the “Athena”—who helps someone discover their own menos (heroic strength), shatter their self-imposed limits, and find courage they didn’t know they had. As Athena herself says, mentorship exists to “stir a man to greater strength and put courage in his heart.”
So—who’s your Athena? And whose will you be?