Catullus 3

54 BCE) that laments the death of a pet sparrow (passer) for which an unnamed girl (puella), possibly Catullus' lover Lesbia, had an affection.

[6] The Hellenistic epigrams about dead pets are somewhat parodic, exploiting the disconnect between the ultimately serious topic of death and an insignificance of an animal.

[9] In the beginning of the poem, the poet "controls the proceedings", directing Venuses and Amores, and later all men of refine (venustiores) to mourn, following the script of Roman funerals, where a family member or a professional mourner (praefica) would ask the crowd to remember the loss.

[11] At the end poet refers to the Hades and addresses the deceased in the second person, as was traditional for Roman laudatio funebris.

[6] Pomeroy suggests that the poem also reflects on the power relationships in the Roman society, in particular, between a child slave (deliciae, symbolized by the bird) and their master.

[17] Pomeroy suggests[18] that the clearest arguments "for" belong to Giangrande[19] and "against" – to Jocelyn,[17] Thomas mentions[20] also opposition from Adams,[21] while Vergados and O'Bryhim highlight[22] a collection of papers in a book by Gaisser.

[24][25] The idea that the word passer in Catullus 2 and 3 is a euphemism for penis apparently dates back to Classical antiquity (cf.

"[31] Vergados and O'Bryhim mark the large erotic vocabulary in Catullus 2 and 3[32] and suggest a "middle" way: the sparrow is indeed the bird, but it was used by its mistress for sexual acts.