Editing Helots (section)

== Etymology ==
Several theories exist regarding the origin of the name "helot". According to [[Hellanicus of Lesbos|Hellanicus]], the word relates to the village of [[Helos]], in the south of Sparta.<ref>Hellanicos, Frag. 188 J.</ref> [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]] thus states, "Its inhabitants became the first slaves of the Lacedaemonian state, and were the first to be called helots".<ref name="Pausianas">[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0160&query=chapter%3D%23102&layout=&loc=3.21.1 Trans. by W.H.S. Jones and H.A. Ormerod] (1918), Accessed: 11 June 2006. Pausanias. ''Description of Greece'', 3, 20, 6.</ref> This explanation is, however, not very plausible in etymological terms.<ref>P. Chantraine, ''Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque'', s.v. {{lang|grc|Εἵλωτες}}.</ref>

[[Linguistics|Linguist]]s have associated the word with the [[root (linguistics)|root]] {{lang|grc|ϝελ-}}, ''wel-'', as in {{lang|grc|ἁλίσκομαι}}, ''halískomai'', "to be captured, to be made prisoner". In fact, some ancient authors did not consider the term ethnic, but rather an indication of servitude: [[Antiochus of Syracuse]] writes: "those of the Lacedaemonians who did not take part in the expedition were adjudged slaves and were named helots",<ref>''[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0198;layout=;query=toc;loc=6.3.1 Geography Trans. by H.L. Jones] (1924), Accessed: 11 June 2006. Apud [[Strabo]] 6, 3, 2.</ref> while [[Theopompus]] (fragment 122), cited by [[Athenaeus]] (VI, 416c), states, "...and the one nation called their slaves helots and the others called them [[Penestai|penestae]]..."<ref>Athenaeus of Naucratis. Yonge, C.D., Editor. ''[http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/Literature.AthV1 ''The Deipnosophists'', or ''Banquet of the Learned'', of Athenæus]''. Accessed: 11 June 2006.</ref> "In all of these texts, the naming of the group as helots is the central and symbolic moment of their reduction to [[serfdom|serfhood]]. They are thus institutionally distinguished from the anonymous ''douloi'' (slaves)."<ref>
Ducat (1990), p.7.
</ref>

Certainly conquest comprised one aspect of helotism; thus Messenians, who were conquered in the [[First Messenian War|Messenian Wars]] of the 8th century BC, become synonymous in [[Herodotus]] with helots.

The situation seems less clear in the case of the earliest helots, who, according to Theopompus, were descended from the initial [[Achaeans (Homer)|Achaeans]], whom the [[Dorians]] had conquered. But not all Achaeans were reduced to helotism: the city of [[Amyclae]], home of the [[Hyacinthia]] festival, enjoyed special status, as did others.

Contemporary authors propose alternative theories: according to Antiochus of Syracuse, helots were the [[Laconia (ancient region)|Lacedaemonians]] who did not participate in the Messenian Wars; for [[Ephorus]] of [[Cyme (Aeolis)|Cyme]], they were the ''[[perioeci]]'' ("dwellers in surrounding communities") from Helos, reduced to slavery after a failed revolt.