Feanor was a hero, but he had a fatal flaw (something a hero always has in trageties). His was that he was too arogant. This leads to him taking the oath to retrieve the Silmarils... something that was impossible. The oath drives him to do many deeds that were less than heroic (ie. attacking the Teleri, burining the ships). It also ultimately causes the deaths of a large number of elves.
He is the greatest of all elves, but his mistakes also cause him to be one of the worst. A good analogy may be to Saruman. He was the most powerful wizard, but Gandalf is greater due to is wisdom and resistance to the temptation of power.
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