Date of Award
4-6-2026
Document Type
Thesis
First Advisor
Dr. David Guinee
Second Advisor
Dr. Phoenix Crane
Abstract
This thesis seeks to further bridge the gap in the literature between the fields of psychology and Latin literature. Specifically, it examines Latin love elegy through modern psychological frameworks of limerence. Limerence is a descriptive psychological condition in which an individual experiences an involuntary, often uncontrollable obsessive attachment to another person known as the limerent object. Drawing from the works of Ovid, Propertius, Tibullus, and Catullus, the thesis argues that the elegiac amator consistently parallels the cognitive andemotional patterns associated with limerence, including idealization, uncontrollable ruminative thinking, emotional volatility, and fixation on reciprocated attention. Using Verhulst’s five stage model and Wakin and Vo’s IDR model of limerence, this literary analysis maps the amator’s experience onto identifiable psychological stages of limerence.
Recommended Citation
Carpenter, Carson '26, "Playing Hard to Get: Limerence and the Psychology of the Amator in Latin Love Elegy" (2026). Honor Scholar Theses. 318, Scholarly and Creative Work from DePauw University.
https://scholarship.depauw.edu/studentresearch/318