The history of sexuality in the Hellenistic period is an odd gap, both in histories of ancient sexuality (which—starting with Foucault!—jump from the late Classical period to the Roman empire) and in histories of the Hellenistic period. The historiographical reasons for this gap are not too diffcult to divine, rooted as they are in the constitutions of the various sub-disciplines of “Classics”. But the materials for a history of Hellenistic sexualities are as varied as the Hellenistic world itself, to the point that the challenge is the elaboration of an account which does not merely reflect current concerns and conceptions of the period. One particular and well-known test-case is the cluster of evidence, literary (bravura pieces of Hellenistic poetry) and documentary (erotic magic), relating to female desire and abandonment. This test-case might be related to new social realities (notably the mobility of young elite men) but also constitutes a particular example of the creation of influential norms of romantic behaviour.