<P> "This damn'd witch Sycorax, / For mischiefs manifold and sorceries terrible / To enter human hearing, from Argier, / Thou know'st, was banish'd . </P> <P> Sycorax / ˈsɪkəræks / is an unseen character in William Shakespeare's play The Tempest (1611). She is a vicious and powerful witch and the mother of Caliban, one of the few native inhabitants of the island on which Prospero, the hero of the play, is stranded . </P> <P> According to the backstory provided by the play, Sycorax, while pregnant with Caliban, was banished from her home in Algiers to the island on which the play takes place . Memories of Sycorax, who dies several years before the main action of the play begins, define several of the relationships in the play . Relying on his filial connection to Sycorax, Caliban claims ownership of the island . Prospero constantly reminds Ariel of Sycorax's cruel treatment to maintain the sprite's service . </P> <P> Scholars generally agree that Sycorax, a foil for Prospero, is closely related to the Medea of Ovid's Metamorphoses . Postcolonialist writers and critics see Sycorax as giving voice to peoples, particularly women, recovering from the effects of colonisation . Later versions of The Tempest, beginning with William Davenant's eighteenth - century adaptation, have given Sycorax a vocal role in the play, but maintained her image as a malevolent antagonist to Prospero . </P>

Where was sycorax banished from before she came to the island