Greek Mythology-Themed Halloween Costumes for Couples

Are you going to a costume party or going out with your boyfriend/girlfriend or husband/wife on Halloween? Still thinking about what to wear for the holiday in question?

Why don't you consider wearing a Greek Mythology-themed outfit then? What are some of the reasons why you might want to do that, and what are some of the stories associated with these mythological figures?

• Either you or your partner are fans of Greek Mythology

• You or your partner want to be a king and queen, prince and princess, and/or god and goddess for Halloween
• You or your partner want to have props and accessories to go with your costumes like swords, spears, shields, and staffs
• To be different - most people will probably decide to wear costumes from popular media like superheroes (Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, etc), characters from books (like the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling), games (like Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts), anime (like Sailor Moon, Attack on Titan, and Fullmetal Alchemist), cartoons (like Steven Universe), and other TV shows and movies

Here are some of the mythological couples you can choose to dress up as for Halloween:

Zeus is the king of the gods as well as the god of the sky and of thunder. His wife and the queen of the gods is Hera, the goddess of women and marriage.

They are usually said to have 3 children (sometimes 4 or even 5 with the inclusion of Eris, the goddess of discord, and Eileithyia, the goddess of childbirth):

• Ares - the god of war
• Hebe - the goddess of youth
• Hephaestus - the god of blacksmiths, metalworking, etc, although some versions of the story say that he was Hera's child alone

Dress up as Hera and Zeus if you want to be a king and queen aside from being a god and goddess for Halloween.

However, if you're looking for a couple that's a bit more faithful to each other, then you might want to dress up as Hades and Persephone instead.

Why? It's because Zeus wasn't loyal to Hera. In fact, he's had relations with various people (mortals and gods alike), so he has way more than 3 (or even 5) children.

What about Hades and Persephone then? Hades is the ruler of the underworld and the dead. Persephone, his wife and queen, is the goddess of spring, flowers, and vegetation.

The most well-known story involving these two was how they ended up together. Hades was said to have abducted Persephone, taking her to the underworld so she could be his queen.

Okay, that's not really romantic. But there are some versions of the story, particularly modern retellings of the myth, wherein Persephone actually willingly goes to the Underworld to escape the goddess Demeter, her overprotective and overbearing mother. She also ends up falling in love with Hades and decides to stay with him rather than return back to to her home.

For more information on Halloween costumes for Zeus, Hades, Hera, and Persephone, check this article.

Of course, she does have to go back anyway, at least for half of the year. It's the agreement they all came to since Demeter didn't want to let her daughter go.

Persephone was to stay in the underworld for half the year and the other half with her mother. This was used to explain the changing seasons. When Persephone is with Hades in the underworld, it's the winter season on the mortal realm. She returns to her mother in spring when the flowers bloom.

There aren't really any stories of these 2 either cheating or being unfaithful to each other. Don't like either of these couples anyway? Let's take a look at the next one then.

Poseidon is the ruler and god of the seas. He's also associated with storms and even horses. His Roman counterpart is the god Neptune.

For more information on a Poseidon Halloween costume, check the article linked above.

As for Amphitrite - she's the wife of Poseidon. Her Roman counterpart is Salacia, the goddess of saltwater.

She's said to be either the daughter of Nereus and Doris, making her a Nereid, or the daughter of Oceanus and Tethys, making her an Oceanid. Nereids and Oceanids are sea nymphs.

Unfortunately, there aren't many stories involving Poseidon and Amphitrite since the latter was usually seen as a minor deity, a mere nymph. Poseidon was also like Zeus (who is actually his brother) in that he also had relations with various people.

Okay, so this couple still wasn't all that romantic in the least. The next one definitely more than makes up for it. Really. And, this time, there's definitely no cheating or unfaithfulness involved. There's no abduction either.

Psyche is a beautiful mortal woman, a princess with 2 older sisters. She was so beautiful that people began worshiping her instead of Aphrodite (the goddess of love and beauty; known as Venus in Roman Mythology)

Naturally, the goddess was offended. Furious, she ordered Eros, her son and the Greek god of passionate and physical desire, to use his arrows and make Psyche fall in love with someone hideous.

Eros was going to obey his mother's order, but he ended up falling in love with Psyche instead (in some versions of the myth, he ended up hurting himself with one of his own arrows).

Even after her sisters had gotten married, Psyche had yet to find a husband, so her parents consulted the Oracle of Apollo. They were told that no mortal man would marry Psyche because she was destined for someone else, a monster.

Her future husband was waiting for her on top of a mountain, so Psyche's parents brought her and left her there.

Zephyr, the west wind, took Psyche to a grand palace where invisible servants waited on her. When night came, her husband showed up, but she couldn't see him. She wasn't allowed to see him as he only came at night and was told that she must never try to look at him.

Psyche was treated well. The invisible servants followed her every order and her unseen husband was gentle and kind, and they got along well enough even if she couldn't see him.

It wasn't enough though as, soon, Psyche grew homesick. She wanted to see her parents and her sisters. After much talking, she managed to convince her husband to allow her sisters to be brought to their house.

When her sisters saw how well she was living, they got jealous and envious. They encouraged her to look at her husband, saying that he was a monster who was going to eat her and the only way to stop him was to kill him.

She tried to resist, but was unable to as even she was curious as to why her husband refused to let her see him.

So, one night, Psyche took a lamp into their room, using it to gaze at her sleeping husband. She had a knife in the other hand, ready to kill him.

However, as it turned out, her husband was not a hideous monster, but a very handsome man. She was so surprised as she took in his beautiful face that she ended up accidentally spilling some hot oil from the lamp onto his shoulder.

Naturally, Cupid awoke. He fled upon understanding what had happened. Psyche tried to follow him, but, of course, she wasn't able to. She refused to give up though. She wandered around the world, looking for any sign of her husband.

During her travels, she came across one of Demeter's (the goddess of agriculture and the harvest; known as Ceres in Roman Mythology) temples, and, after helping the goddess, she was told to go straight to Aphrodite.

Venus gave Psyche a hard time, making her do impossible tasks. The mortal woman wouldn't have been able to fulfill any of these tasks if she didn't have help from both the gods and animals. It's just like how Cinderella had her animal friends to help her with her chores.

So where was Cupid while Psyche was off doing these impossible chores? He was actually in Aphrodite's house, recovering from his wound.

He searched for his beloved Psyche as soon as he was fully recovered. He found her sleeping after she ended up failing one of Venus' tasks.

This was what happened: Venus gave Psyche a box before sending her to the Underworld. She was to get Persephone (Proserpina), the queen of the Underworld, to put a bit of her beauty inside the box.

With help, Psyche was able to get to the Underworld and fulfill her task. She was on her way back to Aphrodite when she was overcome with curiosity. She opened the box, but it turned out to be empty, and she ended up falling into a deep sleep.

After Cupid woke her up, he sent her back to his mother with the box. He then headed to Mount Olympus, the abode of the gods, to speak to Zeus, asking for his help so he could be with Psyche.

In the end, everything was sorted out. Zeus talked to Aphrodite and she finally consented to let the lovers be together. Psyche was given ambrosia, the drink of the gods. Drinking it made her immortal.

She and Cupid were married and they lived happily ever after. In some versions of the story, they even ended up having a child named Hedone (Voluptas in Roman Mythology). The name means Pleasure.

Perseus is a demigod, the son of Zeus and the mortal princess Danaë. His grandfather, the father of his mother, is King Acrisius of Argos.

Because of a prophecy that said that Danaë's child would end up killing Acrisius, he sent his daughter and grandson away. He put them inside a chest and left it floating aimlessly in the sea.

Thankfully, the 2 survived. They found themselves in the island of Serifos where they were taken in by this fisherman named Dictys. The guy's brother, Polydectes, was the king of the island.

This king ended up falling in love with Perseus' mother, but, since the latter didn't approve of the match, the former plotted to get rid of the demigod.

He held this banquet and asked each of the guests to give him horses as gifts. Since Perseus didn't have a horse, he told the king to name another gift and he'd give it to him.

Polydectes asked him to get the head of the Gorgon Medusa. Medusa had snakes for hair and her gaze turned people to stone (yup, it's like the basilisk in the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling).

Sounds like an impossible task, right? Well, yeah, but only if Perseus had to deal with this on his own. The gods were on his side though.

The goddess of wisdom Athena told Perseus where to go to find information on the Gorgon's whereabouts.

After finding Medusa's location, Athena gave him a shield, Zeus gave him a sword and Hades' Helm of Darkness, the god Hermes (the messenger of the gods) lent him his winged sandals (so he could fly), and he even got a special bag where he could put Medusa's head after cutting it off.

With the help of these magical items, Perseus was able to cut off Medusa's head with no trouble at all. So, where does Andromeda fit in this story? Well, on his way back to the island of Serifos, Perseus stopped by the kingdom of Aethiopia.

The rulers of this kingdom were named Cepheus and Cassiopeia. Their daughter, the princess, was named Andromeda.

Cassiopeia boasted that her daughter was more beautiful than the Nereids (sea nymphs). Naturally, this angered Poseidon, so he sent Cetus, a sea monster, to ravage the kingdom of Aethiopia.

After consulting the Oracle, it was discovered that the only way to stop the monster was to have Andromeda sacrificed to it. So they chained her to a rock and left her there to die.

Thankfully, this was when Perseus showed up to save the day and rescue the princess. He killed Cetus and freed Andromeda. After getting married, Andromeda went with Perseus back to Serifos.

Perseus killed Polydectes using Medusa's head since he wouldn't take no for an answer and kept trying to get together with his mother who didn't like him. With the king's death, his brother, Dictys, became the new king with Danaë as his wife.

Remember the prophecy about Perseus killing Acrisius someday? That ends up happening although there are many versions as to how it does. One thing was for sure though - this event was inevitable.

Acrisius tried to escape the prophecy by sending his daughter and grandson away, but, in the end, he couldn't run away from it.

Whether by accident or not (depending on the version), he still ended up dead by his grandson's hands. Do you think he might have been able to live if he had just let them stay with him?

Most would know this guy as Hercules, but did you know that this name was actually from Roman Mythology? His Greek counterpart was actually called Heracles.

Before we start, if you've watched the Disney movie Hercules, you can just forget everything you know from said film because most of the stuff in that show does not apply to the demigod in question.

One thing the movie does get right was the fact that Hercules was the son of Zeus. His mother was definitely not Hera though. It's the mortal named Alcmene.

In fact, Hera actually hated Hercules with the passion and fury of a thousand burning suns because he was her husband's son with another woman.

When he was a baby, she sent 2 giant snakes in an attempt to kill him. But, thanks to his godly strength, he was easily able to strangle the snakes.

So why was Hercules listed here without a partner? It's definitely not because he didn't have any. In fact, he's got a lot of lovers. So you and your partner can just choose who you want to dress up as for Halloween.

Let's take a look at some of these people:

Megara

She's the daughter of Creon, the King of Thebes. After Herc saved Thebes, he was given Megara's hand in marriage. They had several children (sources vary as to exactly how many).

She's actually Herc's first wife. Do you think they would have stayed together until they grew old and wrinkled and eventually died? Would they have been happy together?

We'll never know because, unfortunately, Hera drove Herc mad, causing him to kill his wife and children (in some versions, just his children).

When he came to his senses and realized what he'd done, he went to the Oracle of Delphi to ask how he could atone for his crime. This led to the 12 Labors of Hercules.

Omphale

She's Herc's second wife. She's the queen/princess of Lydia. They didn't get married right away though.

Heracles was actually sent to Omphale to serve as her slave for a year as penalty for having murdered someone.

As a slave, he was made to do women's work and wear women's clothes while Omphale took possession of his club and the skin of the Nemean Lion (Herc killed this lion as part of his 12 labors).

The 2 only got married after the Lydian princess/queen freed Hercules. Some sources say they even had a child together.

Deianira

She's Hercules' third wife. The most well-known story about her was how she ended up causing her own husband's death. It happened like this: the couple had to cross this river and Nessus, a centaur, said he'd help Deianira.

While he was ferrying her across, he tried to take advantage of her, so Heracles shot him with a poisoned arrow (he was still on the opposite side of the shore).

Before Nessus died, he told Deianira that his blood would make sure that her husband would never be unfaithful to her.

It was all a lie (Nessus' blood had become tainted with the poisoned arrow that eventually killed him), of course, but she believed it and kept a bit of the centaur's blood with her.

Later on, when she suspected that her husband was going to leave her for someone else, she took the blood and applied some of it on Herc's famous lionskin shirt.

When Herc put it on, the toxic blood on the shirt burned him. He couldn't remove it. Eventually, he threw himself on a funeral pyre.

One version says that the fire burned away the mortality in him while another says that, upon his death, the gods made him immortal. Either way, he became a god.

Hebe

She's Herc's fourth and last wife. She's the goddess of eternal youth and the cupbearer to the gods in Mount Olympus (the dwelling place of the gods in Greek Mythology).

She served them nectar and ambrosia until Hercules married her. They had 2 children together.

With one Halloween costume, you can be any character you want from Greek Mythology.

Men could be heroes, gods, kings, princes, and demigods while women could be warriors, goddesses, queens, and princesses. For instance, with a Greek warrior costume, you could choose to be the heroic fighter Achilles or the war god Ares.

You can just get the appropriate props and accessories to complete your look. For example, warriors could get swords and shields while kings and queens could get crowns and scepters.

Let's take a look at some of the other couples from Greek Mythology that you and your lover could choose to dress up as for Halloween:

Odysseus and Penelope

Odysseus (his Latin or Roman name was Ulysses) was the king of Ithaca. He's a Greek hero who was most well-known for his cunning.

He took part in the Trojan War, but, the truth was that he didn't really want to fight because he heard a prophecy saying that if he left his home, it would take him years before he could go back.

So he pretended to be crazy (insane or a lunatic) when the Greeks came to get him to join the war. Unfortunately for him, they were able to expose his trick and so he had no choice but to leave his family.

Odysseus did a lot of things to help the Greeks win the war against the Trojans. One of these is coming up with the Trojan Horse, which eventually allowed the Greeks to win and end the war that had already lasted for 10 long years.

After the Trojan War, Odysseus was finally allowed to go home. Unfortunately, it took 10 years before he arrived back in Ithaca. He had many adventures along the way (detailed in Homer's the Odyssey).

Penelope was Odysseus' wife. She was most well-known for being intelligent and faithful to her husband. While her husband was away, she took care of their land and their son, Telemachus.

However, she was forced to remarry because Odysseus had been gone for so long that people thought he was surely dead already. Thanks to her smart and cunning, she was able to delay this unwanted second marriage.

She told her suitors that she would choose one of them only after she finished weaving a burial shroud for Laertes, Odyssues' father and her father-in-law.

Each night, she would undo part of what she'd already woven, so the shroud would never be finished. Unfortunately, her trick was eventually discovered and she was forced to finish the shroud.

Again, her suitors insisted that she pick one of them, so she said she would marry whoever could string her husband's bow and shoot an arrow through 12 ax heads.

By this time, Odysseus had finally returned to Ithaca though he's currently in disguise. He joined the contest and he was the only one who was able to do what Penelope wanted. At the end of the contest, he killed all the suitors and finally revealed himself to his wife.

At first, Penelope couldn't believe that her husband had really returned. But, after Odysseus told her something that only the 2 of them should know, she finally believed him and the 2 were reunited at long last and were free to get their happily ever after.

Orpheus and Eurydice

This is a romantic and yet tragic love story. Orpheus was the son of the god Apollo and Calliope, one of the Muses. He was a musician who was extremely talented with playing the lyre. He was so good that it was said that nothing and no one could resist his music.

Orpheus fell in love and eventually married Eurydice, a beautiful woman (some sources say she was a wood nymph). For a short while, they were very happy together. But then tragedy struck.

Eurydice ended up being bitten by a deadly snake (some sources say this was an accident as she'd been running through the forest in order to avoid a shepherd who was pursuing her).

Orpheus was filled with grief upon her death, so much so that he traveled all the way to the Underworld just to try and get her back.

Once in the land of the dead, he played his lyre, moving the inhabitants there, including Persephone and Hades, with his music. So Eurydice was allowed to return with him back to the land of the living.

However, there was one condition: Orpheus had to walk in front of Eurydice. He wasn't allowed to look back until they both reached the upper world. He just had to believe that his wife was right behind him.

This was where things turn tragic because, yup, you guessed it - Orpheus wasn't able to fulfill this condition.

Some sources say that he'd actually already reached the upper world when he turned to look at his wife, but she was unfortunately still in the land of the dead.

Others say that they were about to reach their destination, but the musician became too impatient, and he couldn't resist looking back while still others say he just had to make sure his wife was really following him and not some apparition or someone else, so he looked.

In any case, since he wasn't able to fulfill the condition, Eurydice wasn't allowed to return with him. She was lost to him forever as he was no longer allowed to return to the Underworld, certainly not while he was still alive.

For a bit of a happier ending, there are some sources who say that, when Orpheus died (some say this happened in quite a violent manner), he was finally reunited with Eurydice in the Underworld.

Baucis and Philemon

This is a happier story when compared to the former couple and it's more romantic too though it also involves death.

The story begins with the gods Zeus (Jupiter) and Hermes (Mercury). They visited a town disguised as poor peasants. They visited each of the houses there, asking for some food to eat and a place to stay for the night, but no one wanted to help them.

Soon, they came to the last house in that town. It was small and simple and belonged to an old couple named Baucis and Philemon. Even though the couple were very poor, they still welcomed the disguised gods, offering them what little food they had.

Because of their generosity and hospitality, Zeus and Hermes spared their lives when they destroyed the rest of the town and all the wicked people who'd turned them away.

The couple's cottage was turned into a temple, and, when they asked to be the guardians of this temple, this wish was readily granted. When asked what else they wanted, Baucis and Philemon simply said that they wanted to die together.

This wish was granted and they lived happily for a long time. Upon their death, they were changed into an intertwining pair of trees. One was an oak while the other became a linden.

Ceyx and Alcyone

Ceyx was the King of Thessaly and the son of Eosphorus, the Morning Star. Alcyone was his wife and queen, and the daughter of Aeolus, the ruler of the winds. The couple loved each other very much and were completely devoted to each other.

They hardly ever separated until the day Ceyx had to go on a journey to consult an oracle about important matters. Alcyone begged him not to go, but he had to.

She then asked to come with him, but, though he didn't want to leave her either, he didn't want to risk endangering her life by bringing her with him.

As it turned out, this was the right decision because, while he was at sea, a great storm broke out. While everyone else was scared, Ceyx felt at peace because he knew his beloved wife was safe in their kingdom. Soon, the boat sank and everyone in it drowned.

Alcyone waited patiently for her husband's return. Every night, she prayed to the gods, particularly Hera (Juno), to ensure Ceyx's safe return.

Hera was so touched by her earnestness that she sent Morpheus, the god of dreams, to tell Alcyone about her husband's death. Morpheus appeared to the queen in her dreams disguised as the drowned Ceyx, telling her about what had happened.

When she awoke, she knew for sure that her beloved husband really was dead. She went to the seashore where she soon saw the body of Ceyx floating in the waters.

In grief, she threw herself into the sea, but, instead of drowning, she and her husband were changed into birds. This story was meant to explain the term 'halcyon days' - a peaceful week in winter in which storms never occur.

Pyramus and Thisbe

This story is pretty similar to William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Pyramus and Thisbe were lovers who grew up together in the city of Babylon. They lived in houses that were so near each other that they actually shared a wall.

Through a small hole in this shared wall, they were able to communicate with each other, whispering loving and sweet words to the other. They wanted to get married, but their parents wouldn't allow it because their families hated each other.

So the 2 decided to run away. They agreed to meet under a mulberry tree. Thisbe arrived first. While waiting for her lover, she saw a lioness whose mouth was bloody from a recent kill. Scared, she ran off to hide.

In the process, she accidentally dropped her veil (in some sources, it was a cloak, and Pyramus had gifted it to her). In any case, the lioness saw this item of clothing and proceeded to rip it to shreds, getting blood all over it.

By the time Pyramus arrived, all he saw was the bloody and torn piece of clothing that belonged to his beloved. Certain that Thisbe had been killed by some wild beast, he pulled out his sword and killed himself in grief.

His red blood splattered on the white mulberry fruits, staining them. When Thisbe returned to their meeting place, she found Pyramus already dead (in some sources, he was still alive although he only had time to say her name before dying).

Crying as she realized what had happened, she took his sword and stabbed herself with it. The gods forever changed the color of mulberry fruits to red to honor the couple's forbidden and tragic love. Their parents had them buried in one tomb.

These are just some of the many Greek Mythology-themed costumes that you can wear as a couple for Halloween.

Be sure to talk with your lover so you can choose which characters to dress up as. If you find that your choices differ, and you can't seem to come to an agreement, give it some time and try to come up with a compromise that can satisfy the both of you.

Remember that you don't have to limit yourselves to all the available Greek Mythology couples out there.

You can still keep the Greek theme while also unleashing your creativity by coming up with your own Greek couple with their own unique story that can be as sweet and romantic, or as sad and tragic as you want it to be. The most important thing is that you and your significant other have lots of fun during this holiday.

Image sources:

• The 'Greek Mythology-themed Halloween costumes for couples' image above featuring Cupid and Psyche was modified by Ceres Schwarz
• The original, unedited image is by Louis-Jean-François Lagrenée, Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons
• The rest of the images are enlarged pics of the products from Amazon.com