Throughout the history of literature, there have been many stories of tragic heroes. These heroes include Oedipus from Oedipus Rex, Cassius from The Tragedy of Julius Caesar and many others. Many may ask: "What is a tragic hero?" » A tragic hero is a person of noble birth with heroic or potentially heroic qualities. This person is doomed by the gods or by a supernatural force to misfortune and destruction or at least to great suffering. But the hero struggles enormously against this fate and this cosmic conflict deserves our admiration. In short, a tragic hero is a character of noble origins, doomed and destined for defeat, downfall or suffering. Macbeth is the perfect example of a tragic hero because he embodies all of these traits and characteristics. Through his actions in the drama Macbeth, Macbeth embodies the classic example of a tragic hero. Macbeth initially has only one trait as a tragic hero: his noble beginnings fighting for King Duncan. The major contributions that made Macbeth a tragic hero were the intervention of Macbeth's ambition, his wife Lady Macbeth, and the prophecies of the three witches, but despite all his downfalls, Shakespeare manages to arouse audience sympathy for Macbeth. No one contributed to Macbeth becoming a tragic hero – but himself. Macbeth started out in the nobility by being a brave soldier in the war against Norway. This is what gives him the status of tragic hero, his noble origin. Macbeth played a key role in his downfall. His ambition drove him to kill his own king and this was the genesis of the decline of his moral sense and initiated his transformation into a tragic hero. Macbeth's ambition merged with that of the two other contributors to his downfall and...... middle of paper ...... were awakened and enlightened and led him to constantly come to inquire of the witches about the how he could become the king of Scotland. As the story progresses, Macbeth puts all his faith and trust in the prophecies of these witches, which ultimately leads to his downfall. At the beginning of this play, Shakespeare actually creates sympathy for Macbeth by showing his refusal to comply with the killing of the king. Duncan for the throne. Initially it seemed that Macbeth would ultimately not kill King Duncan, but he did so and under the influence of many outside forces such as the prophecies of the three witches and Macbeth's wife Lady Macbeth, Macbeth is depicted as killing King Duncan because it was the right thing to do. Shakespeare, at the beginning of the play, tries to give the impression that Macbeth had no choice and that he had to kill to get what he wanted..