User:Akbecker/Evaluate an Article

Which article are you evaluating?
Muses

Why you have chosen this article to evaluate?
I chose this article since I have a lot of exposure to the topic and advanced background knowledge on the topic as well. I also think early depiction of women in myths is extremely important as a historical topic and can inform a lot of our modern ideas surrounding women and gender. My first impression of the article is that there are several areas where they could go further in depth about the topic.

Evaluate the article
I think the lead section does a decent job at summarization, but leaves out where the idea of the muses originated, and why they are important. The inclusion of an etymology so soon in the article seems misplaced, and also does not give enough information that is relevant to the lead section or the topic in general. I feel it could be left out for a more concise article. The muses are a cultural phenomenon as well as they are a literature topic. I think the 'Numbers and names' section goes into unneccessary depth about the number of muses, instead of focusing on their function in Greek society and spiritual beliefs that they embodied. This section is confusing and overly clinical. The mythology section is great, and should be featured at the top of the article page rather than the numbers, names and etymology. The Cult section should go into more depth on why they are connected with Apollo, or link to a citation about the connection. The Function section should be further up in the article. Overall, there needs to be more citations within certain claims. Not that they are wrong, but the reader should be able to follow breadcrumps throughout Wikipedia in order to do further research. The last update to this article is 2010, which means it is super out of date. There has been a ton of new archeaological finds related to the muses since then, and the article needs some updating on new research that has been uncovered since 2010.