Ruggiero: un trovatello, ma di famiglia illustre

This paper sets out some considerations about Ariosto’s Ruggiero. In the first part, the author discusses some ambiguities that apparently interfere with Ruggiero’s effectiveness as an encomiastic figure. In particular, the focus is on Saint John’s speech in the moon episode (Orlando Furioso, XXXV) and on Ruggiero’s exemplarity. In the second part, the author compares Ruggiero’s story with the hero pattern as analysed by the psychoanalyst Otto Rank. As a result, the connections between Ruggiero and the traditional aristocratic ideology are highlighted, also through a parallel with Machiavelli’s Life of Castruccio Castracani.