What a spectacle: a post in a meme-dump has made me rethink myths and legends
I saw this post a couple of days ago in a Facebook meme-dump; it has made me reconsider my understanding of myths and legends and recognise that I had assumed good eyesight when considering the past. I am shocked that I had used good eyesight as a standard when considering the past for a number of reasons: I use both short and long distance glasses. I more often walk around without my distance-vision glasses than not because I can do so safely and mis-see stuff as result. I have considered low-light conditions affecting eyesight when looking at ritual practices. I was amazed the first time I saw spectacles featured in a medieval manuscript representation of Moses and looked a little at the history of eyeglasses after I saw it. Heidelberg, Universitätsbibliothek Heidelberg, Cod. Pal. germ. 19, fol. 141v. So, I really ought to have considered this before, but had not. I immediately shared this new insight and discovered that I was not alone in this discovery even among friends with...
