Sacrifice, defined.

Fertility symbol. Goddess. Nymphomaniac whore. Guiltless victim. Bronze Age princess. Helen is the West's original femme fatale. The most fascinating aspect of her story is her illicit love affair with Paris, the handsome prince of Troy. Aphrodite, the goddess of love, had promised Paris the most beautiful mortal woman in return for awarding Aphrodite the prize of supreme divine beauty. Unable to resist such a tempting bribe, Paris made his fateful judgment. He then traveled from Troy to Greece for his reward. Helen was the wife of Menelaus, king of Sparta, but she fell victim to the passion instilled in her by Aphrodite. As Virgil famously put it, if in a different context: “Love conquers all.” Helen, “crazed by the Trojan man,” followed Paris to Troy. Hence, the Trojan War and the fall of Troy, antiquity's biggest myth.

Now, if I were the face that launched a thousand ships, would I be a willing accomplice in adultery? Would I choose to run away with a prince Aphrodite herself destined for me or would I see reason and put aside my desire for love to save millions? My answer is this, if God Himself gave his only begotten son to save a sinner like me from death and offer eternal life, who am I to not do as He did? Life is dictated by the choices we make, not the regrets we want to forget. I would rather be known as an unknown, however sad, hero than a self-serving adulteress.  I know it won’t be easy to see my soulmate sail away and do nothing to stop him, but I must. 

But a man who commits adultery lacks judgment; whoever does so destroys himself. (NIV, Proverbs 6:32)

The act of adultery is the biggest scam that we and our flesh will play on ourselves. The short-term pleasures of adultery will tempt us into thinking that it will be the greatest thing to do.

It is not my desire to fall victim to the temptation of choosing love over country. Our love is doomed from the start. Why? The mere fact that Paris and I had exchanged glances with lust is already adultery. 

You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery'; but I say to you, that everyone who looks on a woman with lust for her has committed adultery with her already in his heart. (NAS, Matthew 5:27-28)

Dangerous beauties for whose sake men rush to ruin themselves and others are naturals for popular storytelling in word and image. Especially gripping in tales of two lovers' irresistible passion for each other is the added complication of adultery, which makes one or both of them leave behind all sense of morality, shame, and responsible behavior.

Helen is a reminder of how subversive and destructive sex can be when you fall in love with the wrong person. Likewise, since human beings have an unconquerable habit of doing exactly that, for close on three millennia, people have been appropriating Helen for their own purposes. Helen would have been complicit in her fate, a dynamic protagonist, a woman with the power to bestow kingdoms and the will to use it but the power she wielded over kingdoms, she used to satisfy only two people: herself and Paris. 

So help me God, I will not do the same.