The dialogue, which is in direct speech and contains only a minimal introduction, is set in a building where the famous orator Gorgias has been lecturing before an audience. The dialogue begins as Socrates arrives with his friend Chaerephon. The two are greeted by Callicles, an aspiring politician who has been hosting Gorgias at his home. Gorgias is finishing his lecture, but Callicles offers to have him deliver another lecture or epideixis—a “display” speech showcasing his oratorical skill—for Socrates and Chaerephon. Socrates, however, explains that he prefers to have a dialogue (dialegesthai) with Gorgias and begins to interrogate the man.

Socrates (initially backed up by Chaerephon) begins by asking Gorgias what his art (techne) is. Polus, a young pupil of Gorgias, answers for his teacher, praising the art practiced by Gorgias. Socrates, however, does not want praise or a description of Gorgias’s art, but rather to know what exactly it is. Gorgias and Socrates agree that Gorgias’s art is oratory (rhetorike) and that Gorgias is therefore an orator (rhetor). Having established this, Socrates asks Gorgias to converse with him in concise question-and-answer format (rather than in extended speeches), and Gorgias agrees to do so.