Gylippus (; was a Spartan general 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 to
Thurii, a pan-Hellenic
colony then being founded in the instep of
Italy with Athenian help and participation. His mother may have been a
helot, which meant he was not a true Spartiate but a
mothax, a man of inferior status. Despite this, however, from an early childhood he was trained for war in the traditional Spartan fashion and on reaching maturity had been elected to a military mess, his dues contributed by a wealthier Spartiate
patron. For an individual of marginal origins, war was an opportunity to gain honour and eminence. When
Alcibiades urged the Spartans to send a general to lead the
Syracusan resistance against the
Athenian expedition, Gylippus was appointed (414 BC), and his arrival was a turning point of the struggle. More daring than
Nicias, the Athenian commander he faced, he was able to gain an upper hand by driving the Athenians from key strategic locations and essentially breaking the
siege. When Athens sent
Demosthenes with reinforcements, he too was defeated by Gylippus, which ultimately led to the downfall of the Athenian campaign in Syracuse.