This paper first highlights the difference in purpose between the various authors: How Cicero is trying to besmirch Clodia's reputation, while Catullus and Propertius are working with a
love object to some extent characterised for poetic purposes. The groundbreaking use of language in Catullus is discussed, as is the use of
myth in both Propertius and Catullus. It also looks at how the speech of Cicero is a useful exponent of contemporary sexual mores and highbrow rhetoric.