In the book I, Claudius written by novelist Robert Graves is a fictional autobiography about a man named Tiberius Claudius living in ancient Greece. He has some huge conflicts within himself which the author shows through his use of characterization and imagery. Born on July 24, 1885, Robert Graves was born into a family of well-diversified European ancestry with his family tree full of Irish, Scots, Native Germans, English and Danes. He was also born into a terribly rich family, so he was well off as a child. His uncle, Leopold von Ranke, was a historian who was very knowledgeable about this. In the eighteenth century he had another relative, Richard Graves, who wrote The Spiritual Quixote, a uniquely successful novel at the time. His father also wrote poetry, although there is no evidence that Robert wrote poetry or novels, but in reality he tried to escape his father's hold on him and create an identity and make a life for himself. to attend any regular school. In 1907 he obtained a scholarship to go to Charterhouse. While there he had many hard feelings towards all of his classmates and even fewer feelings towards the teachers there. He began writing poetry after being a boxer and becoming a school boxing champion at welterweight and middleweight. He was also very successful in the academic world. So successful that he got a full ride to St. Johns College, Oxford where he wanted to study classics. He went to the closest place he could find to train officers and sign up as a reaction to the declaration of war for World War I. While on holiday in Wales he joined the Royal Welsh Fusiliers. He toured France as a captain in the month of M...... middle of paper ......all in all Athenodorus tries to protect the weak Claudius from most of the conflicts in his life and from his stammer and stammer when he he is nervous about speaking in public without even stuttering. “Who wants to be a Roman Caesar? We do it. At least, we would if we were interested in having sex with family members and enjoyed the adrenaline rush of wondering whether, this time, the food is really poisoned. "(Historyhouse, web) Works CitedGraves, Robert. Io Claudio. New York: Random House Inc., 1961. Print. Liukkonen, Petri. "Robert Graves (1895-1985)." Kirjasto.sci.fi. Ari Pesonen, Kuusankasken Kaupunginkirjasto. 2008. Network. 2 April 2011. Wilde, Robert. By. Roberto Wilde. nd Web. 3 April 2011. "Robert Graves". History House Inc. and Web. 3 April 2011. “Robert Graves”. 3, 2011