I was reading Orphic Hymn 55. To Aphrodite when one of her titles caught my eye:
Heavenly, smiling Aphrodite, praised in many hymns,
sea-born, revered Goddess of generation,
you like the night-long revel and you couple lovers at night,
O scheming Mother of Necessity.
Everything comes from you;
you have yoked the world and you control all three realms.
You give birth to all, to everything in heaven, upon fruitful earth,
and in the depths of the sea, O venerable companion of Bacchos.
You delight in festivities, O Bride-like Mother of the Erotes,
O persuasion whose joy is in the bed of love, secretive giver of grace,
visible and invisible, lovely-tressed daughter of a noble father.
Bridal feast companion of the Gods, sceptered she-wolf,
beloved and man-loving giver of birth and of life,
With your maddening love-charms you yoke mortals,
and the many races of beasts to unbridled passion.
Come, O Goddess born in Cyprus,
whether you are on Olympos, O queen,
Exulting in the beauty of your face,
or you wander in Syria, country of fine frankincense,
Or, yet, driving your golden chariot in the plain,
you lord it over Egypt’s fertile river bed.
Come, whether you ride your swan-drawn chariot over the sea’s billows,
joying in the creatures of the deep as they dance in circles,
or you delight in the company of the dark-faced Nymphs on land,
as light-footed, they frisk over the sandy beaches.
Come, Lady, even if you are in Cyprus that cherishes you,
where fair maidens and chaste nymphs throughout the year sing of you,
O blessed one, and of immortal, pure Adonis.
Come O beautiful and comely Goddess.
I summon you with holy words and pious soul.
Curiosity piqued, I checked the original Greek and she is indeed called λύκαινα, “she-wolf”:
✧ Εις Αφροδίτην ✧
Ο ρανία, πολύυμνε, φιλομμειδ ς Αφροδίτη, ποντογενής, γενέτειρα θεά, φιλοπάννυχε, σεμνή, νυκτερία εύκτειρα, δολοπλόκε μ τερ Ανάγκης: πάντα γ ρ κ σέθεν στίν, πεζεύξω δέ [τε] κόσμον κα κρατέεις τρισσ ν μοιρ ν, γενν ις δ τ πάντα, σσα τ’ ν ο ραν ι στι κα ν γαίηι πολυκάρπωι ν πόντου τε υθ ι [τε], σεμν Βάκχοιο πάρεδρε, Αδώνιδος
τερπομένη θαλίαισι, γαμοστόλε μ τερ Ερώτων, Πειθο λεκτροχαρής, κρυφία, χαριδ τι, φαινομένη, [τ’] φανής, ρατοπλόκαμ’, ε πατέρεια, νυμφιδία σύνδαιτι θε ν, σκηπτο χε, λύκαινα, γεννοδότειρα, φίλανδρε, ποθεινοτάτη, ιοδ τι, εύξασα ροτο ς χαλινώτοισιν νάγκαις κα θηρ ν πολ φ λον ρωτομαν ν π φίλτρων: ρχεο, Κυπρογεν ς θε ον γένος, ε τ’ ν’ Ολύμπωι σσί, θε ασίλεια, καλ ι γήθουσα προσώπωι, ε τε κα ε λιβάνου Συρίης δος μφιπολεύεις, ε τε σύ γ’ ν πεδίοισι σ ν ρμασι χρυσεοτεύκτοις Α γύπτου κατέχεις ερ ς γονιμώδεα λουτρά, κα κυκνείοισιν χοις π πόντιον ο δμα ρχομένη χαίρεις κητ ν κυκλίαισι χορείαις, νύμφαις τέρπηι κυανώπισιν ν χθον ∆ίηι θ νας π’ α γιαλο ς ψαμμώδεσιν λματι κούφωι: ε τ’ ν Κύπρωι, νασσα, τροφ ι σέο, νθα καλαί τε παρθένοι δμηται νύμφαι τ’ ν πάντ’ νιαυτ ν μνο σιν, σέ, μάκαιρα, κα μβροτον γν ν Αδωνιν. λθέ, μάκαιρα θεά μάλ’ πήρατον ε δος χουσα: ψυχ ι γάρ σε καλ σεμν ι γίοισι λόγοισιν.
As opposed to, say, Lycian which we find in two out of five of Proklos’ Hymns and signified her prominence in the region where the pious philosopher grew up rather than anything to do with wolves.
Now I’m not familiar with any lycanthropy in Aphrodite’s myths, though she does appear in her Homeric Hymn as a Πότνια Θηρῶν (Mistress of the Animals) attended by wolves:
She was decked out in gold, Aphrodite, lover of smiles.
She rushed toward Troy, leaving behind fragrant Cyprus.
Making her way with the greatest of ease, high up among the clouds.
She arrived at Mount Ida, famous for its many springs,
nurturing Mother of Beasts.
She went straight for the herdsmen’s homestead, up over the mountain.
Following her came gray wolves
and lions with fierce looks, fawning on her;
bears too, and nimble leopards
who cannot have their fill of devouring deer, all came along.
Seeing them, she was delighted in her thûmos, inside her phrenes,
and she put desire where their hearts were. So they all
went off in pairs and slept together in shaded nooks.
I need to do some more digging, clearly.
Aphrodite, the Sceptered She-Wolf – that has some real promise.