helot

Buff Spartan hoplites brandishing their spears were not enough to assuage fears of a Helot uprising.

I recommend reading the graphic novel series Three, which tells the story of Helot liberation and is a welcome corrective to the jingoism of 300.

While ghastly even by ancient standards, these measures served only to make the Helots hate the Spartans even more, all but guaranteeing future Helot revolts and worsening Spartan paranoia.

Irrespective of the label one uses for it, this is the only outcome that this Israeli government will accept, whatever subaltern, or helot, or “autonomous” status it deigns to allow the Palestinians.

It matters not whether these things are produced by happy smiling members of workers’ cooperatives or helot slaves of the capitalist oppressors.