User:Shemumbles/Evaluate an Article

Which article are you evaluating?
Odysseus

Why you have chosen this article to evaluate?
I chose this article to evaluate because it relates to ancient Greek history (the class I'm in). I also chose it because I read The Odysseyin high school and know a fair bit about Odysseus. That said, I'm open to learning any new information.

Evaluate the article
Lead Section

This article has a very good lead section. The first sentence is concise and informative. It provides Odysseus' role (Greek King), location (Ithaca, Greece) and important information about the literature he appears in, including the author. The second paragraph provides a brief family tree (explaining his relation important characters) and provides key information about his character and fame.

Content

Some content is repetitive. For instance, the story where Odysseus tricks a disguised Achilles into revealing himself (before the Trojan War) is repeated twice. While a lot of time is given to side myths and stories regarding the Trojan War, Odysseus' most important contribution to the Trojan War (namely, the Trojan Horse) is addressed only briefly in a single sentence.

Tone & Balance

The author does a good job keeping a neutral tone while differentiating between the Greek view of Odysseus (as a cunning hero) and the Roman view of him (a deceitful man). Still, there is a lot of focus on side myths and modern literature relating to Odysseus, while there isn't much detail about the Trojan horse which was a significant contribution of Odysseus' to the war.

Sources & References

While the first half of the article is full of citations, numerous stories and myths in the second half of the article lack citation. Of the sources provided, there is a large variety of sources and most (if not all) of the links work.

Organization & Writing Quality

The article's writing is mostly clear and grammatically correct. While the article is mostly well-organized, there are some stories that repeat in multiple sections. This could be easily fixed by combining or reordering some sections.

Talk Page Discussion

The only note in the talk page relates to an older grammatical error which has by now been fixed.

Overall Impressions

The article's strengths are in explaining name etymology and relating relevant myths and modern adaptations and references. The article could be improved with additional information about certain myths and better organization to remove repetitive information. The article also needs more sources.