Minding the Gaps in Ovid's Amores.

This article focuses on applying a comics-based narratological methodology to Latin elegy, specifically through a close reading of Ovid’s *Amores* 1.1–1.7, to demonstrate how narrative continuity emerges across ostensibly discrete poems. By likening the gaps or "gutters" between elegiac poems to the spaces between comic panels, the study reveals thematic and narrative links—such as the blurring of the puella’s identity with divine figures (Cupid and Venus) and an escalating motif of violence culminating in the ego’s attack on his puella in poem 1.7—that traditional readings have overlooked. The article argues that this sequential, reader-engaged approach uncovers a coherent narrative arc within the segmented structure of Latin elegy, highlighting the genre’s narrativity beyond isolated poetic snapshots. This methodology, grounded in the physical and textual layout of ancient scrolls, offers a new lens for understanding elegiac poetry and potentially other poetic corpora.