Sycorax

The name Sycorax will be known not just to fans of Shakespeare but also to students of astronomy and Doctor Who. An interesting triumvirate that I can imagine huddled around a cauldron!

Sycorax the Witch

The character Sycorax is probably best known for her appearance in Shakespeare's great fantasy play The Tempest. Actually the word "appears" is misleading. Although Sycorax is vital to the play's plot, she doesn't actually appear on stage, being no longer alive.

Sycorax was an African witch from Algiers who had been banished to the island on account of her "mischiefs manifold and sorceries terrible". She enslaved the spirit Ariel and imprisoned him in a tree. However she was unable to reverse the spell and it was Prospero who eventually released him:

it was a torment
To lay upon the damn'd, which Sycorax
Could not again undo: it was mine art,
When I arrived and heard thee, that made gape
The pine and let thee out.

Sycorax was also the mother of the the beastly Caliban who believes that the island is therefore his by right.

The origin of the name Sycorax is uncertain. It has been noted that the name includes "cora" which could be derived from the latin corvus or "raven". It has also been suggested that the name could have been derived from Corax of Syracuse, one of the founders of Greek rhetoric.

Sycorax the Moon

Sycorax is also the name of a large moon of the planet Uranus and is officially designated Uranus XVII.

The moon Sycorax was discovered in 1997 by use of the Hale telescope. It's believed to have a diameter of around 150 km. It was named after the witch in Shakespeare's play.

Uranus also has moons named after most of the play's characters including Miranda, Prospero and Ariel along with moons named after characters from other of the Bard's works. Should space tourism ever become commonplace then the moons of Uranus might make a good tour for Shakespeare fans!

The Sycorax in Dr Who

Warning: Plot Spoilers

In the Doctor Who universe the Sycorax are an alien race encountered by humanity in the story The Christmas Invasion. They are defeated by The Doctor in his newly regenerated form as David Tennant.

The Sycorax have taken control of much of the human race by means of "blood control" and are trying to take over the entire Earth. The Doctor drives them away and their spaceship leaves orbit. However Prime Minister Jones orders the retreating spaceship destroyed using weaponry obtained by Torchwood. This is a clear reference to the infamous decision by Margaret Thatcher to sink the retreating battleship The Belgrano during the Falklands War in the 1980s.

As at the time of writing (November 2006) the Sycorax have only appeared the once on television. However that hasn't prevented the release of a Sycorax Leader action figure for their fans to buy!

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