This is also perhaps the best opportunity I’ll have to talk about how hilarious 19th century commentaries on Greek and Latin texts can be. In a commentary on Xenophon’s Cyropaedia, set in Persia during the childhood of Cyrus the Great, the Victorian commentator footnotes a mention of mascara to say that “In the East, women paint their eyes to this day.” My monocle fell into my soup when I heard that one.
This is also perhaps the best opportunity I’ll have to talk about how hilarious 19th century commentaries on Greek and Latin texts can be. In a commentary on Xenophon’s Cyropaedia, set in Persia during the childhood of Cyrus the Great, the Victorian commentator footnotes a mention of mascara to say that “In the East, women paint their eyes to this day.” My monocle fell into my soup when I heard that one.
Is this motherfucker just talking about eyeshadow and mascara?
Yes