helots
Unfree agricultural workers
Helots were serfs in ancient Sparta—a subjugated population bound to the land and forced to work for Spartan citizens.
They occupied a status between slave and free, collectively owned by the state rather than individuals.
The term now describes any oppressed class or group in servitude: The factory workers were treated like helots.
Corporate helots toiling for subsistence wages.
Made someone's property
- oppressedTreated with cruel control
- subjugatedBrought under control
- exploitedUnfairly utilized for benefit
- disenfranchisedDeprived of voting rights
subordinate · subservient · bound · coerced · dominated · dehumanized · yoked · marginalized
Peloponnesian region around Sparta
- LacedaemonAncient Greek city-state
- LeonidasAncient Spartan warrior-king
- ThermopylaeGreek coastal pass, ancient battle
- PeloponnesianOf Greece's hand-shaped peninsula
Herodotus · Thucydides · Xenophon · Plutarch · Aristotle
Involuntary subjugation to another
- villeinageFeudal tenant bondage
- thrallOne held captive
- peasantryRural working class
- feudalismLand-for-service social structure
vassalage · manorialism · indenture · chattel · fiefdom · demesne · tithes · tenantry
Of farming practices
- fieldworkResearch conducted on location
- cultivationFostering growth through care
- harvestingGathering mature crops
- plowingTurning earth for crops
sowing · reaping · threshing · tilling · husbandry · toil · drudgery · manual
Organized resistance to power
- rebellionDefiance of established power
- insurrectionViolent uprising against authority
- resistanceCapacity to withstand force
- revoltOrganized resistance to power
earthquake · suppression · massacre · liberation · manumission · emancipation
enslaved
Made someone's property
- oppressedTreated with cruel control
- subjugatedBrought under control
- exploitedUnfairly utilized for benefit
disenfranchised · subordinate · subservient · bound · coerced · dominated · dehumanized · yoked · marginalized · underclass
Laconia
Peloponnesian region around Sparta
- LacedaemonAncient Greek city-state
- LeonidasAncient Spartan warrior-king
- ThermopylaeGreek coastal pass, ancient battle
Peloponnesian · Herodotus · Thucydides · Xenophon · Plutarch · Aristotle
bondage
Involuntary subjugation to another
- villeinageFeudal tenant bondage
- thrallOne held captive
- peasantryRural working class
feudalism · vassalage · manorialism · indenture · chattel · fiefdom · demesne · tithes · tenantry · seigneurial
agricultural
Of farming practices
- fieldworkResearch conducted on location
- cultivationFostering growth through care
- harvestingGathering mature crops
plowing · sowing · reaping · threshing · tilling · husbandry · toil · drudgery · manual · domestic
uprising
Organized resistance to power
- rebellionDefiance of established power
- insurrectionViolent uprising against authority
- resistanceCapacity to withstand force
revolt · earthquake · suppression · massacre · liberation · manumission · emancipation