Milica Rašić

In ‘The Mirror of Oedipus: Reflections on Slavery’ (Le miroir d’Œdipe. Penser l’esclavage, Seuil, 2023), Paulin Ismard investigates a paradox of ancient Greek society, particularly in Athens, where slavery was deeply embedded in the political and social order, yet rarely questioned in philosophical or political texts. Rather than a simple absence, Ismard interprets this silence as a revealing symptom of how societies construct invisibility. Drawing on the figure of the slave in the Oedipus myth—the character who knows the truth about Oedipus’s origins—Ismard explores how the marginalization of slaves was central to the formation of Greek civic identity. The book argues that slavery was not so much denied as structurally excluded from discourse. Through comparative history and literary analysis, Ismard reveals how certain figures are erased from collective consciousness while remaining crucial to social life. His work invites reflection on how societies define the Other and sustain exclusion through cultural and intellectual frameworks—raising questions still relevant to our understanding of freedom and subjugation today.