Why Are The Witches Important In Macbeth

I believe that the witches are a crucial aspect of the play, Macbeth. The witches were the ones who put the idea of killing Macbeth's cousin, King Duncan, into his mind. Without the witches, King Duncan may still be alive at this point in the play. If Macbeth did become king at some point in the story, he might have been able to live up to his full potential as The King of Scottland, if not for the witches prophecy. The witches provided a plot device that sent the events of the play into motion. On the flip side, I feel as though the three witches tend to distract readers from other key events in the play. They tend to be over-the-top and exaggerate certain events in the play. Macbeth's motivation for putting the witches into the story