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Mothax ( grc, μόθαξ, ''mothax'', pl.: μόθακες, ''mothakes'') is a Doric Greek word meaning "stepbrother". The term was used for a sociopolitical class in ancient Sparta, particularly during the Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC). The mothakes were primarily either offspring of Spartiate fathers and
helot The helots (; el, εἵλωτες, ''heílotes'') were a subjugated population that constituted a majority of the population of Laconia and Messenia – the territories ruled by Sparta. There has been controversy since antiquity as to their ...
mothers or children of impoverished Spartiates. Mothakes were not able to contribute to the
syssitia The syssitia ( grc, συσσίτια ''syssítia'', plural of ''syssítion'') were, in ancient Greece, common meals for men and youths in social or religious groups, especially in Crete and Sparta, but also in Megara in the time of Theognis of ...
, the core civic daily institution for citizens, and thus were not allowed to maintain an "equal" status. They were, however, permitted to fight as troops along with
perioeci The Perioeci or Perioikoi (, ) were the second-tier citizens of the ''polis'' of Sparta until 200 BC. They lived in several dozen cities within Spartan territories (mostly Laconia and Messenia), which were dependent on Sparta. The ''perioeci'' ...
. Though free, they were not Spartan citizens but were brought up alongside Spartan boys as their foster brothers. Due to the expenses of providing extra mess contributions, their rearing was usually sponsored by wealthy families. Some mothakes such as
Gylippus Gylippus (; el, Γύλιππος) was a Spartan general (strategos) of the 5th century BC; he was the son of Cleandridas, who was the adviser of King Pleistoanax and had been expelled from Sparta for accepting Athenian bribes in 446 BC and fled ...
,
Lysander Lysander (; grc-gre, Λύσανδρος ; died 395 BC) was a Spartan military and political leader. He destroyed the Athenian fleet at the Battle of Aegospotami in 405 BC, forcing Athens to capitulate and bringing the Peloponnesian War to an en ...
and
Callicratidas Callicratidas ( el, Καλλικρατίδας) was a Spartan navarch during the Peloponnesian War. He belonged to the mothax class so he was not a Spartiate, despite his status he had risen to prominence. In 406 BC, he was sent to the Aegean t ...
rose to prominence; the former's father exiled for treason and the latter raised in poverty.


References

* Hodkinson, Stephen. ''Property and Wealth in Classical Sparta'' (The Classical Press of Wales, 2000) * Pomeroy, Sarah B., et al. ''Ancient Greece''. New York, New York: Oxford UP, Inc, 1999. 483.


External links


Mothax
Sparta Social classes of Sparta {{AncientGreek-lang-stub