“A classics professor goes to a tailor to get his trousers mended. The tailor asks: ‘Euripides?’” (joke)

A classic joke involving Euripides (a Greek tragedian of classical Athens) and Eumenides (a Greek tragedy by Aeschylus) has been cited in print since at least 1931. The joke involves a tailor and a customer. “Euripides” sounds like “you rip this?” and “Eumenides” sounds like “you mend this?”
 
The “dese” for “this” is part of the “dese-dem-dose” of the famed New York City “Brooklynese” accent of the early 1900s. The joke has been popular with history and language students who are required to read the Greek tragedies.
 
   
Wikipedia: Euripides 
Euripides (/jʊəˈrɪpɪdiːz/; Ancient Greek: Eὐριπίδης, romanized: Eurīpídēs, pronounced [eu̯.riː.pí.dɛːs]; c. 480 – c. 406 BC) was a Greek tragedian of classical Athens. Along with Aeschylus and Sophocles, he is one of the three authors of Greek tragedy for whom any plays have survived in full.
   
Wikipedia: Oresteia
The Oresteia (Ancient Greek: Ὀρέστεια) is a trilogy of Greek tragedies written by Aeschylus in the 5th century BC, concerning the murder of Agamemnon by Clytemnestra, the murder of Clytemnestra by Orestes, the trial of Orestes, the end of the curse on the House of Atreus, and the pacification of the Furies (also called Erinyes or Eumenides).
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The Eumenides
The final play of the Oresteia, called The Eumenides (Εὐμενίδες, Eumenídes), illustrates how the sequence of events in the trilogy ends up in the development of social order or a proper judicial system in Athenian society. In this play, Orestes is hunted and tormented by the Furies, a trio of goddesses known to be the instruments of justice, who are also referred to as the “Gracious Ones” (Eumenides).
 
Newspapers.com
26 March 1931. Ashland (NE) Gazette, pg. 3, col. 2:
There is a cute little quip about the sewing business which goes
 
Tailor: “Euripides?”
Customer: “Yah, Eumenides”/
 
Must have happened in Greece!
 
Newspapers.com
15 April 1931. Lexington (KY) Leader, pg. 16, col. 2:
PAGE THE LEXICOGRAPHER
Tailor—“Euripides?”
Customer—“Yah. Eumenides.”—Malteaser.
 
Reddit—Jokes
[deleted]—May 14, 2012
A Guy Walks Into A Tailor In Ancient Greece
He tosses a toga onto the counter. The tailor picks it up, turns it over and finds a gash across the waist.
The tailor looks up at the man and says, “Euripides?”
The man nods and says, “Yeah. Eumenides?”
 
Reddit—Jokes
_danielthomas—November 26, 2013
a classics professor goes to a tailor…
A classics professor goes to a tailor to get his trousers mended. The tailor asks: “Euripides?” The professor replies: “Yes. Eumenides?”
 
Reddit—Jokes
2040009—October 31, 2019
A classics professor goes to a tailor to get his trousers mended. The tailor asks: “Euripides?”
The professor replies: “Yes. Eumenides?”
 
X/Twitter
Bob Kostic
@causticbob
An ancient Greek walks into his tailor’s shop with a pair of torn pants.
“Euripides?” says the tailor.
“Yeah, Eumenides?” replies the man.
7:33 PM · Mar 28, 2026