Deconstructing a Father's Love: Catullus 72 and 74

In Catullus 72, the speaker's peculiar precision in claiming to love Lesbia "as a father loves his sons and sons-in-law" appears consistent with efforts elsewhere in the collection to downplay sexuality in his portrayed love for Lesbia. Yet notable structural and verbal similarities between 72's image and the crude oral rape committed by Gellius in 74 suggest that the latter is to be read as a sexualized literalization of the former. Here, as elsewhere, the poet reveals awareness that even carefully crafted language is inevitably prone to misinterpretation, particularly by someone as simplistic and carnal as Gellius, his romantic rival.