Prostitution was a common and accepted aspect of ancient Greece. Heaterae were women who not only offered sexual services but also provided mental entertainment and attention. There are several vase paintings representing women (who were prostitutes) from that time. It is remarkable that out of 1200 vases with erotic motifs only seven depict women presening their sex[1]. According to the scientist Catherine Johns[2], it was too complicated to paint vulva and vagina so that a „faithful, realistic representation would seem inadequate"3. Instead, Monika Gsell supposes a „taboo of depiction".[4] This image is located on the inside of a drinking bowl[5] and shows a completely naked woman urinating into a skyphos. While her vagina is placed over the vessel, the opening is not depicted. The vulva triangle as well as the pubic hair are indicated by two simple and slightly curved lines. An interesting detail is the vertical line that leads from the navel to the vulva and probably is an indication of the vaginal canal. However, the detailed anatomical representation of a vagina is missing. Next to this image, Monika Gsell presents others in her book.[6] One of them shows a vulva which was framed in black and thus seems three-dimensional.[7] Another frontal depiction of the vagina shows inner and outer labia.[8]

(Translation: C. Wilhelm)