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How (and about what) does Socrates speak at the start of his trial?

At the start of his trial, Socrates compares his speech to the speech of his accusers. Socrates is responding to the charges brought forward by Meletus and Anytus. Socrates claims that unlike his accusers, who "have hardly spoken a word of truth," he will speak the truth. He also claims that he is not eloquent and will speak plainly, unlike his accusers, who have dressed up their lies with "oration duly ornamented with words and phrases." Socrates has also not carefully planned out his speech. Instead, he claims to speak "the words and arguments which occur to [him] at the moment." One could argue that this is a dangerous thing to do since his accusers want him to receive the death penalty, and most people would carefully plan out their argument before the trial so that it would be most convincing. Thus Socrates claims to be speaking truthfully, plainly, and extemporaneously.


Before going into the current charges for which he is on trial, Socrates then discusses the "older charges," which have given him a bad reputation. Socrates explains that after an oracle declared that "there was no man wiser" than Socrates, he went to disprove the oracle by finding someone wiser than himself. In doing so he offended politicians, poets, and artisans (craftsmen) because he shows that they are not wise (though they think they are).

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