"Rush in and Die, Dogs!" or, the Eternal Beauty of the Poet

Cinerati recently waxed eloquent about Conan, and the perceived resurgence of the grim Cimmerian in popular culture:

Howard's typical Cimmerian is similar to that of the classical scholars, and presents a figure most unlikely to advance the literary arts. But this is where Conan differs from his kin. In The Phoenix on the Sword, Conan is an older man who has conquered on of the greatest nations of the Hyborean Age expressly to free them from tyrannical rule. He conquered to rule, and to liberate an oppressed nation. A far cry from the typical barbarian. By separating Conan from his kin, Howard simultaneously increases the audience's sympathy for the barbarian king while enabling the character to advance a theory of the value of literature.

Neat stuff, but I fear Cinerati is too well read for his own good. ;)