#meanwhile you have the medes with that awful nose/tongue/ears/one eye punishment that absolutely made my blood run cold reading about it

[voluptuarian]

I'm finding this cultural pattern in the ancient and medieval middle east and into eastern europe where defeated enemies, especially ones with potential links to power (deposed kings, competing family members) are blinded by rivals. Like it happened to Hormizd IV, it happened to Arsaces of Armenia and his father Tigranes, and a number of earlier kings among the Parthians, Sasanians, Seleucids, Achaemenids, etc. I'm not going to dig through my readings to look up. I also remember a Georgian poet who was related to the royal family (I thought this was Shota Rustaveli and Queen Tamar, but nothing I search brings it up) who was possibly blinded to prevent him taking the throne (this would be as late as the 1100s). Interestingly these blindings aren't just done on anyone who pisses of the people in charge, either-- I'm only seeing it in situations where someone is being deposed, or prevented from inheriting by another power-- implying some sort of connection between candidacy for kingship and the possession/loss of eyes. It's fascinating, none of the sources I'm reading are making any comment about it, and I desperately need more information!!