# Alcina — Orlando Furioso character guide

> Alcina in Orlando Furioso by Ludovico Ariosto.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** false Alcina, Puissant Alcina

**First appearance:** 0003-canto-i

## Snapshot

A beautiful enchantress whose island paradise turns lovers into beasts once her desire cools.

## Who they are

Alcina rules an island of gardens and music where knights are welcomed, feasted, and adored — until she tires of them. Her power lies less in open violence than in pleasure that dissolves a man's purpose, and her victims are found later in forms that show what they have become. She is the poem's great test of whether a hero can want something more than delight, and her enchantments set the pattern for every false paradise the characters must escape.

## Relationships

### [Rogero](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/orlando_furioso_se/characters/rogero)

_psychological_

Alcina is a sorceress who seduces and manipulates Rogero, keeping him enchanted on her island.

### [Rogero](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/orlando_furioso_se/characters/rogero)

_psychological_

Alcina is a sorceress who seduces and manipulates Rogero, keeping him enchanted on her island.

## In the story

### [Canto VI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/orlando_furioso_se/chapters/canto-vi)

The false fairy who transforms her lovers into plants, rocks, or beasts; Rogero is warned to avoid her.

### [Canto VII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/orlando_furioso_se/chapters/canto-vii)

The beautiful fay who welcomes Rogero, but is revealed by the ring to be a hideous old hag.

### [Canto VIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/orlando_furioso_se/chapters/canto-viii)

Enraged by Rogero's escape and the loss of her guard.

### [Canto X](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/orlando_furioso_se/chapters/canto-x)

Mentioned as the enchantress Rogero has left behind.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/orlando_furioso_se/characters/alcina
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/orlando_furioso_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/orlando_furioso_se/characters