Spartans and Helots

Nemea is a city halfway between Argos and Corinth, famous for the Nemean lion slayed by Herakles.
  WATH. War against the Helots. Helots once revolted against the Spartan King Agis who took away their privileges and forced to pay contributions to the government which was obviously bloody unfair so they revolted but lost and became state Slaves and were given jobs with homes. Originally from Helos in Laconia which was a foundation of Heleios son of Perseus. Eurotas river runs through Sparta to the gulf of Laconia. Later the Helots sided with the romans because of a tyrannical and disordered government.
   Twice mentioned now in strabo are caves where supposedly Hercules went down to Hades to catch the Cerberus a three headed dog creature. There is a Cape off Laconia where this also may have happened.
   They say in Elis at the Pisatis region there is a city called Pisa or Bisa which means spring or water spout.
  Aitolos the Eleian named his land Aitolia after he was ousted from Elis by Salmonius, whose daughter was Tyro who fell in love with a river. His descendant Oxylos wanted his ancestral land Elis back but the Epeians were there and what a cheek. Pyraichmes the Aitolian fought Degmenos the Epeian in single combat - customary Hellenic style the first with a slingshot and the latter with a bow. Pyraichmes won with his slingshot a more modern weapon and  Degmenos hit the deck and died. The Aitolians possessed Olympia now! They made it sacred to Zeus and therefore it was a curse for anyone to attack it so they never bothered fortifying it with walls and demanded any strangers drop their weapons on entry for they would receive them back once they had passed through peacefully. Iphitos established the games. The population increased. It was a peaceful city now. Indeed it became one of the most prosperous and populous states under Pheidon the Argive from Argos who started a mint. Eventually Pheidon invaded other parts of the Peloponnesos and this hacked off the Lacedaimonians so they got together with Elis and took Pheidon to the cleaners. The Lacedaimonians said we can't have this Pheidon depriving the Peloponnesos of its hegemony! The Spartans took to the seas one day and founded Taras in southern Italy. Now Taranto. So is the art publisher Phaidon named after this guy?
   Tyrtaios wrote the Eunomia an elegy about the war. Limnai is a suburb of Sparta where the Messenians were said to have raped some maidens who had come to sacrifice. What they sacrificed I don't know but the outrage infused a war. Aristocrates was a commander. Tyrtaios was supposedly an Athenian from Aphidna. Tyrtaios wrote "Kronion the spouse of beautifully crowned Hera Zeus himself gave this city to the Herakleidai with whom I abandoned windy Erineos and came to the broad island of Pelops" 
   Someone said Laconia is lacking in men but they must have been talking nonsense as the Spartan army lived there! One time the Spartans invaded most of the Peloponnesos but it wasn't a long standing effort. During Roman times a bloke called Eurykles ran the island of Kythera just off Laconia. Sparta lies in the shadow of Mt Taygetos where it has supposedly erupted being in an earthquake zone and where recently the Romans have excavated a mine at considerable cost but with a view to making good profits.
   Thornax, now that's a name! Need to find out more about it. Funny how the Greeks often called the wind the Lips which is understandable since you use your lips to blow so they naturally must have thought Zephyrus had a massive pair of lips and thus created the wind as indeed would have Boreas. They did some weird things including divining and examining the bowels and intestines of fallen enemy soldiers to establish omens and such like. An eagle perched high in a tree was regarded as a bad omen. They seriously believed their dreams meant something and even family members killed each other because of portentous dreams.