Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Messapus (King of Sicyon)


 * The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review).  No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was keep. This does not appear to be a hoax. However, this stub article would benefit from improved sourcing. (Non-administrator closure.) Northamerica1000(talk) 08:44, 13 February 2014 (UTC)

Messapus (King of Sicyon)

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This seams to be a hoax. Word "Messapus" is not mentioned in the cited "source". I can't find reliable source to prove existence of this subject. Vanjagenije (talk) 20:47, 5 February 2014 (UTC)
 * Keep (or Merge to the appropriate history). This does not seem to be a hoax, as there are fairly longstanding articles on this subject on German Wikipedia, Portuguese Wikipedia, and Slovak Wikipedia, with the latter two each citing numerous sources. Perhaps it will be easier to find sources under the spelling, Messapos. bd2412  T 21:45, 5 February 2014 (UTC)
 * Presence of the subject in other Wikipedias is not an evidence against it being a hoax. And I'm not sure that "Messapos" or "Messapos" is mentioned in any of those sources. Sources are off-line, so I can't verify, but the one online source at Slovakian Wikipedia article does not mention him at all. Vanjagenije (talk) 21:54, 5 February 2014 (UTC)
 * The other Wikipedia articles seem to have been made over a period of many years, by different editors. If this is a hoax, it's an extremely long and multilingual one. I have asked the creator of the German Wikipedia version (a well-established editor there) for input here. Cheers! bd2412  T 22:30, 5 February 2014 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of Greece-related deletion discussions. • Gene93k (talk) 02:52, 6 February 2014 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of People-related deletion discussions. • Gene93k (talk) 02:52, 6 February 2014 (UTC)
 * I've added some sources but have no idea whether they are reliable or not. Theroadislong (talk) 17:18, 6 February 2014 (UTC)


 * Keep. It's certainly not a hoax, though the current sources are appalling (some fruitcake website saying "No poet in ancient Greece was ever considered worthy of special honor unless he was demented") and a book published in 1810, for example (which does at least refer to "Meſſapus, the ninth king of Sicyon"). From what I can gather Sicyon king-lists have been used by literalist Christan writers to synchronise Biblical history with ancient Greek chronologies, which is what most of the "unreliable" sources are doing. Also it's not clear whether all the sources refer to the same Messapus. Paul B (talk) 13:06, 7 February 2014 (UTC)
 * Keep although I share Paul B's concerns. Dougweller (talk) 11:29, 8 February 2014 (UTC)
 * Keep. I'm the creator of the german article. Messapus, the eighth/ninth king of Sicyon is only mentioned by the ancient chronicler Eusebius and Jerome  and by Augustine of Hippo in City of God (book) . Schuppi (talk) 20:11, 8 February 2014 (UTC)
 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.