The name “Arôriphrasis” occurs predominantly on amulets depicting Aphrodite binding her hair. The philologist Maryse Waegeman conducted an analysis of this name, here are her conclusions:
“The first part of her name ΑΡΩΡΙ might then refer to the other aspect of Aphrodite’s twofold character where sexuality and fertility are more emphasized. I would therefore like to relate ΑΡΩΡΙ to the verb άρόω, “to plough, to sow, to beget” and Αρουρα, the poetical name for the fertile woman.”
“The name of the stone, in Greek σάπφειρος, is the Hebrew saphir, which can be transliterated in Greek by ΣΑΦΙΡ. Could it be a coincidence then that the second part of Aphrodite’s magical name, ΦΡΑΣΙ, is nothing else but an anagram of ΣΑΦΙΡ?”
“If this interpretation is valuable, the magical name of Aphrodite, ΑΡΩΡΙΦΡΑΣΙ(Σ), would express perfectly the goddess’s duality by calling her goddess of fertility and goddess of heaven in one name, thuswise combining for the amulet wearer and magician all the powers of the celestial Aphrodite Ourania and the popular Aphrodite Pandemos.”
Source: Maryse Waegeman, ΑΡΩΡΙΦΡΑΣΙΣ. Aphrodite’s magical name, in: L’antiquité classique, Tome 61, 1992. 242.
Head of Aphrodite, 1st century B.C., Marble, 31 × 22 × 21 cm, The J. Paul Getty Museum, Villa Collection, Malibu, California, 76.AA.3, Public Domain
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