This poem addresses common themes of Catullus' poetry such as friendship, poetic activity, love and betrayal, and grief for his brother.
[2] The poem begins as a letter addressed to a friend and quickly delves into topics such as friendship and his tortured romantic life.
The structure may be represented by the letters A B C B A, and the parts also of each main theme are arranged with equal symmetry…To me it appears to be an extreme development of the old Homeric digression of the tale within the tale….
Theodorakopoulos explains, "In both poems 64 and 68 it is clear that Troy is an abomination, not the glory that contemporary Romans may have been seeking to gain from connection with it.
"[6] A metaphoric connection has been made to the poem's reference to Hercules, whose painful death by burning led to his apotheosis and marriage to the goddess Hebe, leading him to achieve eternal happiness.