Senecan tragedy

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Senecan tragedy refers to a set of ten ancient Roman tragedies,^[1] eight of which were probably written by the Stoic philosopher and politician Lucius Annaeus Seneca.^[2] Senecan tragedy, much like any particular type of tragedy, had specific characteristics to help classify it. The three characteristics of Senecan tragedy were: five separate acts, each with a Chorus; recounting of ‘horrors’ and violent acts, which are usually done off-stage; and some sort of parallel of the violence that occurred.^[3] Only the Phoenissae departs from the five act structure.^[4] In the English literary canon, Seneca appears as a major influence on later texts about revenge, such as Titus Andronicus and The Crying of Lot 49.