“for when a man has suffered much, and been buffeted about in the world, he takes pleasure in recalling the memory of sorrows that have long gone by.”
~ The Odyssey - Book XV (Samuel Butler Translation. p270)
In book 15, it was sad to read the tragic back story of Eumaeus, the swineherd. He was the son of the king of an island country named Syra. He was kidnapped by his nurse, a Phoenician woman who herself was kidnapped and sold to Eumaeus’s father. He was sold to Laertes, Ulysses’ father. Eumaeus is staunchly loyal to Ulysses and takes care of his duties even when Ulysses is not home for ten years.
This shows a contrast between the Phoenician woman and Eumaeus. Both were born into richness but kidnapped and sold into slavery. One chooses to do harm by doing the same thing that was done to her, but the other chooses not to. I think the biggest issue with crime and violence in society is that crime begets more crime. If one person cheats someone, that person could become cynical and cheat someone else, and it continues to spread. That’s why a strong justice system is so important for goodness to prevail. In countries where there are constant civil wars, the core of it could be small instances of cheating and abuse, and those boil over to create huge turmoil.