I remember seeing somewhere that societal empathy didn't strongly exist as a cultural trait until people started reading stories where they put themselves in ot

I remember seeing somewhere that societal empathy didn't strongly exist as a cultural trait until people started reading stories where they put themselves in other people's shoes. I guess communal storytelling wasn't enough to change a persons mindset. It was in the context of historical greeks were all sociopaths and narcissists and quite different from the average person today.