A novel by Fénelon published in 1699. It became the most widely read book in France, and possibly all of Europe. Until the publication of Goethe's The Sorrows of Young Werther in 1774, it had no rival in book sales apart from the Bible. In Homer's Odyssey, the first 4 books tell of how Telemachus leaves home to find news of his father. He ends up in Sparta, where he listens to stories told by Helen and Menelaus. Homer picks up the story of Telemachus again in Book 15, when he leaves Sparta to head home. Fénelon's tale is situated in this lacuna, and extends Telemachus' adventures after Sparta. He uses it as a vehicle for pedagogy on how to rule, mainly through the voice of Mentor, who is Telemachus' companion throughout his journey, and is actually Athena in disguise. Every generation saw a reflection of itself in the novel. During the time of Louis IV's reign, it was seen as a critique of the Sun King. In the 1780s, it was seen as a foreshadowing the French Revolution. It also appeared in Proust's Remembrance of Things Past, as part of a sacred trio of seventeenth-century authors together with Madame de Sevigné and Racine. --- Related: [[Ring composition]]