Byron Wants Sympathy?

After reading the notes and finding that Byron had a similar experience (with less violence and tragedy), I feel, like others here, that this is self promotion and attention seeking. It's not necessarily a bad thing though since he had genuine feelings about his whole ordeal, saying he didn't even like to think on it or speak of it much. During the poem, I felt very empathetic toward the giaour when he was  basically in mental ruins and talking to the friar about his woes and unforgettable experiences which forever made him a ship wreck of a man. All of the parts with the friar helped to humanize the giaour as hadn't been done when he was busy ruthlessly slaying Hassan. This humanization brought to light that he is indeed a tragic hero of sorts. He took revenge for his love, but in the end it didn't basically nothing for him and his fractured state of mind.