It was a convention of war to enslave people you have defeated in war.
How long has this been going on?
Oh, since the Fall of Troy, at least.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Trojan_Women
THE VOICE OF REASON Solon, (born c. 630 BCE—died c. 560 BCE), Athenian statesman, known as one of the Seven Wise Men of Greece (the others were Chilon of Sparta, Thales of Miletus, Bias of Priene, Cleobulus of Lindos, Pittacus of Mytilene, and Periander of Corinth). Solon ended exclusive aristocratic control of the government, substituted a system of control by the wealthy, and introduced a new and more humane law code. He was also a noted poet.
My son was handsome beyond all other men, when you saw him your became the goddess. All the indiscretions of mortals pass for Aphrodite and it is appropriate that the goddess's name begins with folly. You saw him resplendent in his foreign costume and you went out of your mind. For, living in modest circumstances as you were in Greece, you hoped that, once you had shaken off the dust of Sparta, you would enjoy a riot of extravagance in the city of the Phrygians that flowed with gold. Menelaus' palace gave little scope for the life of luxury you wanted to revel in.
So much for that idea. Force was used by my son, you say, when he took you away. Why then was this not noticed by any of the Spartans? Did you scream for assistance from Castor or his brother? They were still there, young and strong, as yet not raised to the stars. When you came to Troy, with the Greeks hot on your trail, and the deadly clash of spears began, any news of Menelaus' success you greeted with, 'My brave Menelaus, hoping to vex my son with the thought he had a powerful rival for your love. But if ever Fortune favoured the Trojans, Menelaus was forgotten. You kept an eye on chance and and studied how to follow in her footsteps, but virtue held no such attractions for you.
Then you describe how you were so reluctant to stay that you used a rope to lower yourself in secret from the battlements. Were you discovered anywhere tying a noose to your neck or sharpening a sword, the course of action a woman of honour would have taken if she yearned for the husband she once had? And yet how often I urged you to act: 'Leave here, my daughter! My sons will find new brides; I will smuggle you out safely to the ships of the Greeks. Bring this fighting between the Greeks and ourselves to an end! But this was not at all to your taste. You were playing the great lady in the house of Alexandros and wanted foreign servants to bow low before you. This was what mattered to you.
And after all this you come out here, you abominable creature, tricked out in these fine clothes, and look your husband in the eye, under the same sky! You should have come out humbly in tattered clothes, quaking with fear, your head shaven, with a modest bearing rather than a shameless air, in view of your past crimes.
Menelaus, so that you know how I mean to end my speech, crown Greece as your good name requires by killing this woman and establishing this law for the rest of womankind: the penalty for betraying one's husband is death.
Menelaus, punish your wife as your forefathers and house would approve. Show yourself noble in your enemies' eyes and prevent your fellow-Greeks from charging you with unmanliness.
We have arrived at the same conclusion, you and I, that this woman of her own choice left my house to share a stranger's bed. [To HELEN:] Off with you now to the place of stoning! I want you to die and pay in an instant for the years of suffering endured by the Greeks; I want you to learn not to bring disgrace upon me!
No, I beg you, do not make me guilty of the madness of the goddesses and kill me! Show me some understanding!
Do not betray the men she killed, your comrades-in-arms! I entreat you in their name, in their children's name!
Enough, old woman. I pay her no attention. [To his servants:] Away with her, take her off to the ship that will carry her over the sea!
Do not let her board the same ship as you!
Why ever not? Does she weigh more than she used to?
There is no lover who does not love for ever.
That depends on how lovers view matters. But I will do as you wish: she will afford a different ship from mine; for there is actually sense in what you say. And once she gets to Argos she will meet a foul end as befits so foul a creature and make all women curb their lustful instincts. This is no easy task, but just the same her execution will strike fear into their wanton hearts, even if their shamelessness exceeds hers.
MEDEA
Oh Zeus, and Justice, child of Zeus,
and flaming Helios—now, my friends,
we'll triumph over all my enemies. 910
The plans I've made have been set in motion.
I'm confident my enemies will pay,
they'll get their punishment. For at the point
when I was most in trouble, this man came
and helped me plan safe harbour for myself.
I'll lash my ship's cable to Aegeus, [770]
once I've made it to Athena's city.
Now I'll tell you all the things I'm planning—
though you'll get little pleasure from my words.
I'm going to send one of my household slaves 920
to ask Jason to come and visit me.
Once he's here, my words will reassure him.
I'll tell him I agree with what he's doing,
that leaving me for this royal alliance
is a fine idea—he's acted properly
and made the right decisions. Then I'll ask [780]
if my children can remain. My purpose
is not to leave them in a hostile land
surrounded by insulting enemies,
but a trick to kill the daughter of the king. 930
For I'll send the children to her with gifts.
They'll carry presents for the bride, as if
requesting to be spared their banishment—
a finely woven robe and a tiara
of twisted gold. If she accepts those presents
and puts them on, she'll die—and painfully.
And so will anyone touching the girl.
I've smeared strong poisons on those gifts.
So much for that. I'll say no more about her. [790]
But the next thing I'll do fills me with pain— 940
I'm going to kill my children. There's no one
can save them now. And when I've done this,
wiped out Jason's house completely, I'll leave,
evading the punishment I'd receive
for murdering my darling children,
a sacrilegious crime. You see, my friends,
I won't accept my enemies' contempt.
So be it. What good does life hold for me now?
I have no father, no home, no refuge.
I was wrong to leave my father's house, 950 [800]
won over by the words of that Greek man,
who now, with the gods' help, will pay the price.
He'll never see his children alive again,
the ones I bore him, nor have more children
with his new bride, for she's been marked to die
an agonizing death, poisoned by my drugs.
Let no one think that I'm a trivial woman,
a feeble one who sits there passively.
No, I'm a different sort—dangerous
to enemies, but well disposed to friends. 960
Lives like mine achieve the greatest glory.
26:00 Psyop is just another word for state propaganda. 35:39 @DigitalGnosis I dont believe Homer was a person Homer was a pagan. There wi...