helot
Laconian forced laborer
A helot is a serf or slave, especially one bound to the land.
The word comes from the Helots of ancient Sparta—a conquered population forced into agricultural labor for Spartan citizens.
In modern use, helot describes anyone in a condition of servitude or oppression: The factory workers were treated as helots, with no rights and no recourse.
Bonded agricultural laborer
- bondageInvoluntary subjugation to another
- thrallOne held captive
- bondsmanOne who posts bail
- villeinFeudal tenant farmer
peasant · vassal · slave · chattel · subjugation · enslavement · captivity · servitude
Ancient Greek warrior state
- LaconiaPeloponnesian region around Sparta
- LacedaemonAncient Greek city-state
- agogeGreek training regimen
- hoplitesAncient Greek heavy infantry
phalanx · Thucydides · Herodotus · Plutarch · Xenophon · Peloponnesian
State of being controlled
- dominationSupreme authority held
- exploitationSelfish use of others
- coercionPressured compliance through threats
- repressionUnconscious blocking of thoughts
disenfranchisement · marginalization · persecution · abuse · inequality · revolt · uprising · resistance
Strenuous, prolonged effort
- drudgeryHard, boring work
- tillingCultivating soil for crops
- plowingTurning earth for crops
- harvestingGathering mature crops
fieldwork · agriculture · farmhand · cultivation · menial · domestic · manual · estate
serf
Bonded agricultural laborer
villein · peasant · vassal · slave · chattel · subjugation · enslavement · captivity · servitude · peon
Sparta
Ancient Greek warrior state
- LaconiaPeloponnesian region around Sparta
- LacedaemonAncient Greek city-state
- agogeGreek training regimen
hoplites · phalanx · Thucydides · Herodotus · Plutarch · Xenophon · Peloponnesian
subjection
State of being controlled
- dominationSupreme authority held
- exploitationSelfish use of others
- coercionPressured compliance through threats
repression · disenfranchisement · marginalization · persecution · abuse · inequality · revolt · uprising · resistance · rebellion
toil
Strenuous, prolonged effort
harvesting · fieldwork · agriculture · farmhand · cultivation · menial · domestic · manual · estate · landowner
- social ranksking, queen, emperor, empress, noble
- slaverychattel slavery, enslaved, slave, enslavement, slave traders
- Spartaagoge, phalanx, Spartans, Leonidas, Thermopylae
- unfree laborersslave, chattel slave, bondsman, bondswoman, bondservant
- captivitycaptive, prisoner, detained, imprisoned, incarcerated
- ancient GreeceAthens, Sparta, Zeus, Parthenon, Acropolis
helotmaster
Authority or controller
lord · overlord · slaveholder · aristocrat · ruler