Lycopis appears in ancient references to Cornelius Gallus's elegies as his pseudonymous beloved, her name suggesting "wolf-eyed" intensity; she embodies the elegiac mistress tradition. The character represents the dominating, often cruel beloved who inspired Roman love elegy, her power over the poet demonstrating love's capacity to enslave and torment. Lycopis enriches the tradition of pseudonymous beloveds in Latin poetry, standing alongside Lesbia and Cynthia as a figure whose name encodes both desire and suffering.

Lycopis appears in classical poetry as a beloved woman, possibly referencing the addressee of Gallus's lost elegies. Such fragmentary references tantalize scholars and demonstrate how much ancient poetry has been lost. Poets might invoke Lycopis when engaging with the literary history of Roman elegy or when referencing the fragmentary nature of our knowledge about ancient poetry. The character represents the lost works and partial knowledge that characterize classical reception, reminding students that much ancient poetry survives only in fragments or references.