Credite laesis. The Identity of the Chorus in Seneca's Phaedra

This paper argues that the chorus of Seneca’s Phaedra is composed of Athenian women. The lack of explicit identification of the chorus in the text has led to multiple proposals: Cretan women, Athenian men, two different choruses. This paper thoroughly reviews and discusses the available evidence, especially by comparing it with Seneca’s other plays and its literary models in Greek tragedy. The proposed hypothesis enables a new appraisal of the role of the chorus in the Phaedra.