From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

	This article is within the scope of the WikiProject Greece; If you would like to join us, please visit the project page; if you have any questions, please consult the FAQ.
???	This article has not yet received a rating on the quality scale. Please rate the article and then leave a short summary here to explain the ratings and/or to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the article.
Additional information: This article has been checked against the following criteria for B-Class status: Referencing and citation: not checked Coverage and accuracy: not checked Structure: not checked Grammar: not checked Supporting materials: not checked

Contents 1 =opening section 1.1 name 1.2 verb agreement 1.3 Security

[edit] =opening section

the phrase in the opening section "Helots were not confined to Sparta" is confusing and ambiguous. Its intended meaning is probably that the practice of keeping Helots existed elsewhere, but it makes sound as though the Helots were a free people. The section makes sense with the deletion of the ambiguous phrase, so that's what I've done. --Daviticus82 3/16/2007

[edit] name

Shouldn't this article be renamed Helots? The plural in this sort of articles appears to be much more common.--Aldux 10:26, 15 June 2006 (UTC)

It's only helot because that was the Status quo - I agree Helots would be better - if there are no counter-argumetns in a few days, will make it so.Bridesmill 13:47, 15 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] verb agreement

There are many cases in the main body of the article where the past/present tense does not agree (or switches back and forth). If I get around to it, i'll fix it myself, but i've got a lot of work. just thought I'd bring it to someone's attention. --Storkk 16:25, 3 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Security

You uncritically quote Thucydides' exaggerated statement that all Spartan policy was directed by fear of the Helots. Firstly, the translation is contentious. Secondly, though it is a possibility that Sparta was organised in part to keep the Helots in subjection, ask yourself how feared they could have been if the Spartans allowed them to fight alongside them at need. Thirdly, and this is a general point for all writing on Sparta, you need to understand the difficulty of gleaning any information about a state which did not build, did not write, and whose chroniclers mostly came from its great enemy, Athens. Thucydides himself was a general in the Pelopponesian War. With the Helots the problem is compounded,as you have a people who left no evidence behind within a state which left very little. Rockgenie19