Talk:Milo of Croton/GA1

GA Review
The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the review.''

Hi, I'll be reviewing this article. The rules for GA reviews are stated at Good Article criteria. I usually do reviews in the order: coverage; structure; detailed walk-through of sections (refs, prose, other details); images (after the text content is stable); lead (ditto). Feel free to respond to my comments under each one, and please sign each response, so that it's clear who said what.

When an issue is resolved, I'll mark it with ✅. If I think an issue remains unresolved after responses / changes by the editor(s), I'll mark it ❌. Occasionally I decide one of my comments is off-target, and strike it out --

Coverage

 * Looks OK at the top level, I may have comments / questions in individual sections. --Philcha (talk) 16:26, 28 March 2009 (UTC)

Structure

 * ✅ At first I was puzzled by the way section "Personal life" appears in the middle, but then I concluded that the real structure is "Achievements" (containing both "Athletic career" and "Military command"), "Personal life" and "Cultural representations" (including "Feats of strength", "Death" - both of which are mythic, - "Analysis" and "Legacy"). If I got that right, I suggest you create such top-level headings and group the rest as sub-sections under them. -Philcha (talk) 16:26, 28 March 2009 (UTC)
 * Done. ItsLassieTime (talk) 19:42, 28 March 2009 (UTC)


 * ✅ I think "Analysis" would be better titled e.g. "Place of champion athletes in Greek culture", and placed before "Feats of strength" etc. as it explains the tendency to mythologise such figures. --Philcha (talk) 16:26, 28 March 2009 (UTC)
 * Done. ItsLassieTime (talk) 19:42, 28 March 2009 (UTC)


 * ✅ Legacy" would be better titled "modern art and literature". --Philcha (talk) 16:26, 28 March 2009 (UTC)
 * Done. ItsLassieTime (talk) 19:42, 28 March 2009 (UTC)

General

 * ✅ Most of the dates are BC and this should be included. --Philcha (talk)
 * Done. ItsLassieTime (talk) 20:03, 28 March 2009 (UTC)


 * You need to be rather sceptical about ancient and Hellenistic Greek sources - most were romancers or second-rate journalists rather than what we would now consider proper historians. Herodotus admitted to simply retailing what he was told, and in his books "The X say that ..." is often amark of scepticism. Even the work of Thucydides, often described as the first scientific historiography, contains speeches that are plainly made-up. The history and poetics of scientific biography may help - I got it from a Google Scholar search for "pythagoras biography" (w/o quotes).--Philcha (talk) 17:57, 28 March 2009 (UTC)

Athletic career

 * What age was the boundary between boys and men in wrestling? That would help with the chronology of his life. -Philcha (talk) 17:09, 28 March 2009 (UTC)
 * Done. At Olympia, age 17 to 20. ItsLassieTime (talk) 16:57, 29 March 2009 (UTC)


 * ✅ "Milo was a six time Olympic victor, winning the boys' wrestling (probably in 540 at the 60th Olympiad), and thereafter five men's wrestling titles in five consecutive Olympiads from 536 to 520" could be made a little more concise, although exactly how depends on whether you can define the boy-man boundary. --Philcha (talk) 17:09, 28 March 2009 (UTC)
 * Done. ItsLassieTime (talk) 16:56, 29 March 2009 (UTC)


 * ✅ Spivey tells how M's dominance of wrestlnig was brought to an end, I think you should include that. -Philcha (talk) 17:09, 28 March 2009 (UTC)
 * I'm not sure what you mean. Do you mean his defeat by a young wrestler who stayed at arm's length? ItsLassieTime (talk) 16:56, 29 March 2009 (UTC)


 * ✅ Re "Croton apparently produced no other athletes of renown", Spivey says the youth who thwarted M at his 7th Olympics was also a Crotoniate. Was this the peak of the upstart's career? --Philcha (talk) 17:09, 28 March 2009 (UTC)
 * Done. No other information. ItsLassieTime (talk) 16:56, 29 March 2009 (UTC)


 * ✅ Re "Milo was a five time Periodonikēs ...", it might be good to mention a modern equivalent to give readers a clue. The one that occurs to me is "grand slam", winning all the majors tournaments in the same year, applies to several sports. --Philcha (talk) 17:09, 28 March 2009 (UTC)
 * Done. ItsLassieTime (talk) 16:15, 29 March 2009 (UTC)


 * ✅ Should explain that stade was a sprint. --Philcha (talk) 17:09, 28 March 2009 (UTC)
 * Done. ItsLassieTime (talk) 16:14, 29 March 2009 (UTC)

Military command

 * ✅ Is "Military command" the right heading? Did he actually determine his army's strategy & tactics, or just lead the charge? --Philcha (talk) 17:26, 28 March 2009 (UTC)
 * Done. My sources indicate this was his one and only military experience. No, it's not the right heading. Changed to "Military experience". (talk) 21:28, 28 March 2009 (UTC)


 * ✅ Re "those evalauations do not square with what is recorded of Milo's military exploits": (spelling!)
 * ✅ Does the source (Poliakoff) actually say this?-- Philcha (talk) 17:26, 28 March 2009 (UTC)
 * ✅ Were there any other military exploits to justify the plural? --Philcha (talk) 17:26, 28 March 2009 (UTC)
 * Done. I've removed this passage. It's one person's considered opinion. Let the reader decide for himself. ItsLassieTime (talk) 21:28, 28 March 2009 (UTC)


 * ✅ Does anyone comment on the numbers at the Croton-Sybaris battle? Estimates I've seen, e.g. Greek democracy and modern democracy, put the free adult male population of fifth-century BC Athens at around 30,000. AFAIK Diodorus Siculus does not have "a reputation for fact-checking and accuracy". --Philcha (talk) 17:26, 28 March 2009 (UTC)
 * Done. I haven't been able to find anything else on this. The numbers are rather incredible. ItsLassieTime (talk) 21:28, 28 March 2009 (UTC)

Personal life

 * ✅ Re "If this was indeed true, ....", if which was true, that M was associated with Pythagoras or that Pythagoras was influential, or both? In any case the inference looks dubious: Milo might have been merely an acquaintance or pupil of Pythagoras, which would not necessarily have made M influential. In fact this page about Pythagoras says Pythagoras avoided politics, and eventually left Croton. Please check. --Philcha (talk) 17:57, 28 March 2009 (UTC)
 * Done. I've worked this as best I can. Your source does mention P may have been involved in the Croton-Sybaris dispute which involved Milo in a powerful capacity as a military leader. Milo's political influence cannot be accurately assessed, of course. There's no evidence he was involved in Croton politics except for the fact that it was usual for Greek men to be so involved. However, it is reported he was given a powerful command in the ensuing war which ordinarily would have been given to a member of the nobility. For myself, there isn't enough evidence to make any conclusions about Milo.  I'd rather simply record all the tales and legends for better or for worse. I need to get sources for some.


 * ✅ This page about Pythagoras says Pythagoras fled Croton and died in Metapontum, casting doubt on the story that Pythagoras died in M's house. If so, the story that Pythagoras died in a fire in Milo's house (whose story?) should perhaps be in the myths section, along with the evidence about how Pythagoras actually died. --Philcha (talk) 17:57, 28 March 2009 (UTC)
 * ✅ Please w-link the first instance of "Democedes", not the 2nd. --Philcha (talk) 17:57, 28 March 2009 (UTC)
 * Done. I'm sorry, I should have caught this (and other things) before submission to GAN. ItsLassieTime (talk) 04:07, 29 March 2009 (UTC)


 * ✅ "Milo was not likely of the nobility" looks wrong in my (Brit) dialect of English. How about "Milo was probably not a member of Croton's nobility"?
 * Done. ItsLassieTime (talk) 04:07, 29 March 2009 (UTC)


 * ✅ Please clarify the chronology of the relevant parts of Democedes' life. Presumably he was freed by the time he sought M's daughter as his wife. --Philcha (talk) 17:57, 28 March 2009 (UTC)
 * Done. D escaped his Persian captors. I've moved the section to the notes as it's a digression here. ItsLassieTime (talk) 04:53, 29 March 2009 (UTC)


 * ✅ "Darius was an admirer of the wrestler and can only have learned of him through Democedes" - does this mean Democedes returned to Perisa (Susa)? -Philcha (talk) 17:57, 28 March 2009 (UTC)
 * Done. Clarified. ItsLassieTime (talk) 04:53, 29 March 2009 (UTC)


 * ✅ I'm sorry, but I think your revision of this section has gone too far. The initial sentence "The ancients had the tendency to bring the famous into close association, and it is not surprising that Milo, the supreme athlete of Croton, and Pythagoras, the great Crotoniate philosopher were eventually brought together" has a few problems:
 * ✅ Who says "The ancients had the tendency to bring the famous into close association" - it's a reasonable statement, but needs a ref. --Philcha (talk)
 * Done. Poliakoff. ItsLassieTime (talk) 08:16, 30 March 2009 (UTC)


 * ✅ "it is not surprising that ..." looks like editorialising. If one of the sources says that, I'd go for e.g. "X was not surprised that ..." --Philcha (talk)
 * Done. Reworked. ItsLassieTime (talk) 08:16, 30 March 2009 (UTC)


 * ✅ "the supreme athlete of Croton" looks like WP:PEACOCK, especially as Croton had a series of top sprinters. How about "most famous athlete", if a source supports something like that? --Philcha (talk) 09:18, 29 March 2009 (UTC)
 * Done. Reworked. ItsLassieTime (talk) 08:16, 30 March 2009 (UTC)


 * ✅ Re "Pythagoras, the great Crotoniate philosopher" is wrong. Nowadays we might call him a "Samo-Crotoniate", in the style of e.g. "Irish-American", but the Greeks always referred to "Pythagoras of Samos". I'd suggest "the great philosopher Pythagoras, who spent most of his life in Croton". --Philcha (talk) 09:18, 29 March 2009 (UTC)
 * Done. Reworked. ItsLassieTime (talk) 08:16, 30 March 2009 (UTC)


 * ✅ "Sources for the accounts of an intimacy between Milo and Pythagoras are found in Strabo, Iamblichos, Diogenes Laertius, and Timaios" looks too much like a response to a comment at a GA review :-) How about e.g. "Strabo, Iamblichos, Diogenes Laertius, and Timaios report that ..."? --Philcha (talk)
 * Done. Reworked. ItsLassieTime (talk) 08:16, 30 March 2009 (UTC)


 * ✅ The para beginning "The two famous Crotoniates were brought together in an account regarding the dispute of 510 BC that resulted in the destruction of Sybaris ..." has similar problems:
 * ✅ "The two famous Crotoniates were brought together ..." suggests the two had at least 1 serious discussion about this, but the facts as presented here don't support that. --Philcha (talk) 09:18, 29 March 2009 (UTC)
 * Done. Reworked. ItsLassieTime (talk) 08:16, 30 March 2009 (UTC)


 * ✅ P was not a Crotoniate. If the sources support P's addressing the assembly, I'd expect it was as a guest speaker, as Croton was ruled by an oligarchy. --Philcha (talk) 09:18, 29 March 2009 (UTC)
 * Done. ItsLassieTime (talk) 08:16, 30 March 2009 (UTC)


 * ✅ Nice find about the other "Pythagoras of Samos" who was an athletic trainer. Is there evidence that he lived at the right time, stayed in Croton for a while and that Milo associated with him? If so, it might be best to deal with this up-front and then be very specific about which Pythagoras you're talking about. That means you'll have to check very carefully each mention of a Pythagoras in the sources - I'm afraid ancient history / biography can sometimes be a minefield. --Philcha (talk) 09:18, 29 March 2009 (UTC)
 * Done. No other info on this man. ItsLassieTime (talk) 08:16, 30 March 2009 (UTC)


 * ✅ "the philosopher urged the Croton assembly to protect the 500 banished citizens of Sybaris" assumes knowledge of the background. I'd put that in the "Military section" as part of a very brief outline of the war's origins - ideally not more than 2 sentences. There's material with sources at Sybaris (nothing useful at Crotone, IMO), but you'll have to very concise. --Philcha (talk) 09:18, 29 March 2009 (UTC)
 * Done. Reworked this passage as carefully as possible. ItsLassieTime (talk) 08:16, 30 March 2009 (UTC)

Feats of strength

 * ✅ Re "he ate the gizzard stones of roosters", how about "he is said to have eaten the gizzard stones of roosters" (or better, say who said)? --Philcha (talk) 18:02, 28 March 2009 (UTC)
 * Done. Both Pliny the Elder and Solinus attribute Milo's strength to the consumption of rooster stones.

Death

 * Looks OK --Philcha (talk) 18:02, 28 March 2009 (UTC)

Analysis

 * ✅ See comments under "Structure" above. --Philcha (talk) 18:15, 28 March 2009 (UTC)
 * Done. ItsLassieTime (talk) 19:39, 28 March 2009 (UTC)


 * You might find The history and poetics of scientific biography useful as IIRC it says Aristotle began the practice of trying to point out a moral in biographies. --Philcha (talk) 18:15, 28 March 2009 (UTC)

Legacy

 * ✅ See comments under "Structure" above. --Philcha (talk) 18:15, 28 March 2009 (UTC)
 * Done. ItsLassieTime (talk) 19:35, 28 March 2009 (UTC)


 * ✅ I'd be inclined to skip Whalen's poem as it's only a handful of lines and really does barely mention Milo. --Philcha (talk) 18:15, 28 March 2009 (UTC)
 * Done. Removed material. ItsLassieTime (talk) 19:35, 28 March 2009 (UTC)

(A few copy edits)

 * I've done a few small copy edits, I hope you don't mind and like the results. --Philcha (talk) 12:37, 2 April 2009 (UTC)
 * Fine! And thank you! ItsLassieTime (talk) 15:15, 3 April 2009 (UTC)


 * BC dates should have before "BC" so that the number and "BC" stay on the same line. I've fixed it, and I suggest you get  WikEd, which makes such bulk changes take less time than it's taken for me to type this. One thing you have to be careful about when doing this is not to change e.g. template or category names. --Philcha (talk) 12:37, 2 April 2009 (UTC)

Links check
The report shows all the Web links are healthy, but a few are missing accessdate parameters (accessdate=yyyy-mm-dd), which are required. Please plug them in. --Philcha (talk) 12:54, 2 April 2009 (UTC)
 * Done. ItsLassieTime (talk) 15:14, 3 April 2009 (UTC)

BTW I recommend using the Link Checker whenever you submit an article for review. If you forget to note where it is, there's a link in the "Tools" section of my user page. --Philcha (talk) 12:54, 2 April 2009 (UTC)

Images

 * These are appropriate to the article, have suitable captions and no copyright issues. --Philcha (talk) 12:54, 2 April 2009 (UTC)

Lead
I've just realised I forgot the lead:
 * "some, perhaps, based upon misinterpretations of his statues" is not matched by anything in the text. --Philcha (talk) 07:34, 3 April 2009 (UTC)
 * Done. This is found in the "Feats of Strength' section, end of 2nd paragraph. ItsLassieTime (talk) 14:18, 3 April 2009 (UTC)


 * I think the lead would read better if it followed the same order as the main text, what do you think? --Philcha (talk) 07:34, 3 April 2009 (UTC)
 * Done.. ItsLassieTime (talk) 14:18, 3 April 2009 (UTC)

Once the lead is agreed, it's a GA. --Philcha (talk) 07:34, 3 April 2009 (UTC)
 * Done. ItsLassieTime (talk) 15:13, 3 April 2009 (UTC)
 * I'm afraid you've got carried away again. The interpretations in the last 2 sentences of the lead are not supported by anything in the main text, and that also raises suspicions about whether they're supported by any refs. --17:02, 3 April 2009 (UTC)
 * Done. Revised. ItsLassieTime (talk) 07:57, 4 April 2009 (UTC)
 * The 1st para is fine, pl don't change it. --Philcha (talk) 17:02, 3 April 2009 (UTC)
 * "and a few stories surround the two" in the 2nd para is superfluous. --Philcha (talk) 17:02, 3 April 2009 (UTC)
 * Done. ItsLassieTime (talk) 07:57, 4 April 2009 (UTC)

Pass as GA
I'm very pleased to say that this article meets the Good Article criteria: it provides good coverage, is neutral and well-referenced, clearly-written, complies with the parts of WP:MOS required for a  GA and uses appropriate images that have good captions and comply with WP's policies on images. Many thanks for the work you've put into this, and for your prompt response to my comments - it's been a pleasure working with you. --Philcha (talk) 08:23, 4 April 2009 (UTC)

- - - - - '''please add review comments /responses above this line - - - - -

If you want to start a new section of the Talk page while this review is still here, edit the whole page, i.e.use the "edit" link at the top of the page.