In front of the local community center, three men meet to shoot some hoops. These men are a teacher, a warrior, and a monk. The teacher is the wise Socrates, from ancient Greece. The warrior is Odysseus, also from ancient Greece, and the monk is Thomas Merton from the twentieth century. They are all friends meeting to hang out and shoot around. They all come from different walks of life and have opinions on how a good life should be led. As time goes on, the three are challenged to a three on three basketball game by Michael Jordon, LeBron James, and Kobe Bryant. After the game, these men start talking about what happened and whether “doing wrong is worse than suffering wrong”(Plato 47).

SOCRATES: Hey Thomas, what’s up. Are you ready for some hoops?

THOMAS: Socrates, my friend, I am so excited for some basketball. It is my favorite time of the day. I get to hang out with my buddies and work on my sweet jump shot.

SOCRATES: Whatever, Bro. Your jump shot may be sweet, but my hook shot is unstoppable.

THOMAS: Sure, whatever you say. We will settle this on the court, because here comes Odysseus.

SOCRATES: Hey there big fellow. What the hell, you’re late again! You are cutting into our basketball time. Bentham 2

ODYSSEUS: Sorry Socrates, not that I had to go win the Trojan War or anything. It wasn’t that big of a deal, but I did get a sweet nickname, “the great tactician” (Homer XI: 438).

SOCRATES: Blah, Blah, Blah. Spare us another tale about one of your heroic journeys.

THOMAS: Now guys let’s just go get on the court, relax, and play a little basketball.

The three men proceed to the basketball court and start shooting around, each trying to outdo the other. A little while later, Michael Jordan, Lebron James, and Kobe Bryant enter the gym and try taking the courts from Socrates, Thomas and Odysseus.

MICHAEL: Look at these chumps, they wouldn’t know how to play basketball if it came up and bit them. (gesturing towards Socrates, Odysseus, and Thomas)

LEBRON: Why are they playing in tunics and robes? Kobe: I don’t know, but this is our court so let’s go kick them off. They proceed over to Socrates, Thomas, and Odysseus.

SOCRATES: Oh no, look at these brutes coming towards us.

MICHAEL: Hey, this is our court, so get lost!

ODYSSEUS: Well, I don’t see your names on it.

THOMAS: Let’s just all calm down. There must be a reasonable way to sort this thing out. Actually, we were on the court first. So we are going to play on it. That’s the only fair thing to do. Bentham 3

KOBE: Now you guys look here. We are taking this court unless you guys would like to play us for it. You know a little three on three.

SOCRATES: Bring it on.

The teams organize and the game begins. Kobe’s team takes an early lead but because of the strategy of Odysseus and the knowledge of basketball from Socrates and Thomas, they come back to tie the game. Then, it all comes down to the last shot. Thomas passes the ball to Socrates down low, in the post. He tries to put it up but right before he shoots, Michael fouls him and pushes him down to win the game. As Thomas, Odysseus, and Socrates walk back to the locker room, a debate breaks out about the game and what happened.

ODYSSEUS: Thomas, why did you make that pass to him? My play was perfect.

THOMAS: I felt it was the right thing to do, Socrates was open. Anyway Michael cheated, he fouled Socrates.

ODYSSEUS: That doesn’t matter, in a three on three basketball game there is no one to call fouls. The gods instructed me to make that play. I am “the great tactician” (Homer XI: 438), and we lost because you did not do as I said. Socrates, who had been sitting quietly, raises his head and presents an interesting question.

SOCRATES: Was it fair of them to foul me?

ODYSSEUS: Yes, it is the stronger, tougher player in basketball who always wins.

THOMAS: That is a barbaric way of thinking. The people who play honestly really win. Bentham 4

SOCRATES: But Odysseus, if what you say is true, then if I pop a basketball with my own two hands, I would be what you call a winner because I would be the mightiest player on the court.

ODYSSEUS: Precisely. By popping the ball, you would have ended the game on your terms and no one else’s. Making you the winner.

SOCRATES: Fair enough. But if you don’t mind me asking, what is your definition of winning?

ODYSSEUS: That is simple; the definition of winning is crushing one’s opponent.

SOCRATES: Why does one wish to crush their opponent?

ODYSSEUS: One wishes to crush their opponent to appease their desire to win.

SOCRATES: So, winning is the appeasement of one’s desire.

ODYSSEUS: Most definitely.

SOCRATES: Then I wonder, is winning always good?

ODYSSEUS: Yes, winning is always good regardless of whether it is on a basketball court or in a war.

SOCRATES: Therefore, you are saying that appeasing one’s desire is always good?

ODYSSEUS: Certainly, winning is always good.

SOCRATES: I believe that there is proof that you are mistaken. It is written “though he fought shy of her and her desire, he lay with her each night, for she compelled him. Bentham 5 But when day came he sat on the rocky shore and broke his own heart groaning…” (Homer V: 162-165). The man in the passage is you, and in the passage where you lay with the goddess each night it appeases your desire for lust. But in the morning it breaks your heart. So truly Odysseus, appeasing one’s desire is not good, ultimately it is bad.

THOMAS: Here, here Socrates, I agree completely. I still think Michael’s foul was unjust.

ODYSSEUS: But, the fact is they won the game and the court.

THOMAS: That is not the point. Winning achieved by unjust actions and not according to God’s rule will come back to hurt you in the end.

ODYSSEUS: That is a bunch of crap. I have done many things in my life that the god’s would have frowned upon. But, none of these actions have ever come back to bite me in the ass.

THOMAS: I beg to differ. When you were stranded on the Cyclopes’ island, you “…rammed it deep in his crater eye…” (Homer IX: 415-416). This quote explains how you hurt the Cyclopes by driving a stake into his eye. Would you consider this to be a victory? ODYSSEUS: Why yes, I most definitely consider that to be victory.

THOMAS: Does God truly want us to hurt one another and do bad things? These thing will eat away at your soul and come back to haunt you. I wrote that “I nevertheless was a prisoner to my own violence and my own selfishness, in the image of the world in which I was born” (Merton 3).

ODYSSEUS: No. I do not agree with you. Bentham 6

THOMAS: But Odysseus, it is written in a prayer made by the Cyclopes after you attacked him “…grant that Odysseus, raider of cities, never sees his home: Laertes’ son, who kept his hall on Ithaka.” (Homer IX: 578-580). And, is it not true that this very prayer caused you much trouble?

ODYSSEUS: Yes, it did.

THOMAS: So your unjust actions did catch up to you.

ODYSSEUS: Yes, I guess so.

THOMAS: After you gouged out the Cyclopes’ eye, did you face the trials by yourself?

ODYSSEUS: No, I had my loyal crew with me.

THOMAS: Did your crew suffer as you did during those trials?

ODYSSEUS: Yes, many of my crew lost their lives.

THOMAS: By performing the unjust act of gouging out the Cyclopes’ eye, you indirectly killed your own men.

ODYSSEUS: I guess so, we all make mistakes. I will never forget those men.

THOMAS: Then I conclude, because you have some guilt over the death of these men, the unjust and wrong acts no matter how extreme they may be, from killing people to a foul in a basketball game, hurts the soul of the wrong-doer. Bentham 7

SOCRATES: Thank you, Thomas. You have just proven my point. The appeasement of desire in any form, whether it be in the form of winning or in the form of lust, is wrong. And, it is proven that it only brings pain to the one who desired it. Consequently, the point my friend Thomas just proved is that unfair and unjust actions do have a negative effect on the soul of the wrong doer. Gentlemen, we are the real winners. Even though those men are out there playing on the court that is rightfully ours and we are in this locker room discussing our loss, they are suffering internally, and they will suffer later. Since this is proven, I believe that those who appease their desire at any cost and those who perform unjust actions and feel guilt afterwards suffer much worse than those who were wronged in the first place. In conclusion, I believe that all the evidence we have just spoken of proves that “it is better to suffer wrong than to do wrong” (Plato passim).

Bentham 8 Works Cited 1. Homer, and Robert Fitzgerald. The Odyssey. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 1998. Print. 2. Merton, Thomas. The Seven Storey Mountain. New York: Harcourt Brace, 1998. Print. 3. Plato, Walter Hamilton, and Chris Emlyn-Jones. Gorgias. London: Pen