A spirit of the air and guardian of innocence. He was enslaved
to the witch Sycorax, who overtasked him; and in punishment for not
doing what was beyond his power, shut him up in a pine-rift for twelve
years. On the death of Sycorax, Ariel became the slave of Caliban, who
tortured him most cruelly. Prospero liberated him from the pine-rift,
and the grateful fairy served him for sixteen years, when he was set
free.
More on Ariel from Infoplease:
See a map of "" in the Visual Thesaurus
