Reading works of Renaissance literature against their ancient classical sources, this book examines representations of homosexuality in sixteenth-century France and stresses the historical coexistence of different models of homosexuality. The texts and topics covered include the Decameron and its translation and reception in France, the poetry of Ronsard, Montaigne's Essais, works in praise of and satirising Henri III, Brantÿme's Dames galantes, and the figures of the androgyne and the hermaphrodite.