Gonzalez Lodge, Commentary on Plato: Gorgias

νεανιεύεσθαι: “to act like a wild young man.” Callicles has in mind especially the insolent, bold, and reckless conduct of the rich and proud Athenian youth. This is usually the meaning of the adjective νεανικός (so in our dialogue, 508 d, 509 a), which, however, is sometimes used only of the freshness and the vigor of youth, as below, 485 e. The verb applies especially to the training of the youth by the Sophists, which leads them to light and idle speeches and to a defense of the most conflicting principles without having regard unto the higher and earnest problems of life. Cf. Phaedrus 235 a καὶ ἐφαίνετο δή μοι νεανιεύεσθαι ἐπιδεικνύμενος ὡς οἷός τε ὢν ταὐτὰ ἑτέρως τε καὶ ἑτέρως λέγων ἀμφοτέρως εἰπεῖν ἄριστα.

2 f.

δημηγόρος, δημηγορεῖν: indicate dissatisfaction, sometimes with the length of the speeches, as opposed to διαλέγεσθαι, i.e. 519 d, e, Prot. 329 a, 336 b; sometimes, as here and in 494 d, with the means employed by those who, unconcerned for the truth, seek only the approbation of the multitude. In the mouth of Callicles, who is the real δημηγόρος, this reproach sounds very strange, especially with the addition ὡς ἀληθῶς. It is a kind of unconscious self-criticism.

πρὸς σέ: cf. 485 b below, and Apol. 21 c πρὸς ὃν ἐγὼ τοιοῦτόν τι ἔπαθον, “at whose hands I had some such experience.”