In Wagner’s opera Götterdämmerung, the betrayed hero who dies is Siegfried.
Siegfried is the central heroic figure of the opera’s first three acts. He has forgotten his relationship with Brünnhilde after drinking a potion that alters his memory, and he becomes entangled with the Gibichung family. Hagen manipulates the situation, while Gunther and Gutrune are drawn into the deception. Siegfried is ultimately killed by Hagen during a hunting scene.
Götterdämmerung is the fourth and final drama in Richard Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen. Its title is commonly translated as “Twilight of the Gods,” although the German title reflects the Norse concept of Ragnarök. Wagner’s cycle is inspired by Germanic and Scandinavian legendary traditions, but it is not a direct translation of any single medieval Norse text. Siegfried should not be confused with Siegmund, his father, or with Sigurd, the closely related hero of the Völsung legends.