When I was younger, I elected not to write the kind of discourse which deals with
 myths See General Introduction p. 22. Yet he deals with
 the legend of Demeter in Isoc. 4 and with that of Heracles in
 Isoc. 5 , and, half playfully, he goes into the stories of
 Helen and Busiris in the discourses devoted to them. See General Introduction. 
 nor that which abounds in marvels and fictions, Cf. Isoc. 10.4 ff. , Vol. III., L.C.L. although the majority
 of people are more delighted with this literature than with that which is devoted to their
 welfare and safety; See Isoc.
 7.1 . nor did I choose the kind which recounts the ancient deeds and wars
 of the Hellenes, although I am aware that this is deservedly praised, One of his pupils, Theopompus, was a historian. For Isocrates' attitude to the
 historians see Blass, Die attische Beredsamkeit 2. p. 49. nor,
 again, that which gives the impression of having been composed in a plain and simple
 manner and is lacking in all the refinements of style, For
 the plain style affected by the forensic orators, notably Lysias, see Jebb, Attic
 Orators 1. pp. 159 ff. Cf. Isoc. 4 . which those
 who are clever at conducting law-suits urge our young men tocultivate, especially if they wish to have the advantage over their adversaries. Isocrates despised this kind of writing. See General
 Introduction. No, I left all these to others and devoted my own efforts to giving
 advice on the true interests of Athens and of the rest of the Hellenes, See General Introduction. writing in a style rich in
 many telling points, in contrasted and balanced phrases not a few, The Gorgian figures, antithesis and parisosis , which
 Dionysius of Halicarnassus complained ( Dion. Hal. Isoc. 14 ) were excessively used in the Isoc. 4.71-81 . and in the other figures of speech which
 give brilliance to oratory See General Introduction. 
 and compel the approbation and applause of the audience. Now, however, I have completely given up these devices of rhetoric. An exaggeration. They abound in this discourse, but his earlier efforts were
 more ornate. Cf. Isoc. 5.27-28 , and Isoc. 15.195 . For I do not think it is becoming to the ninety-four
 years which I have lived nor, in general, to men whose hair has at length turned to
 grey An echo of Plat. Apol.
 17 . to continue to speak in this fashion, but rather in the manner which
 every man, should he so desire, would hope to command, although no man can easily attain
 it without hard work and close application. I have said this at the beginning in order that if the discourse which is now about to
 be presented to the public should appear to some to be more feeble Cf. same apology in Isoc. 5.149 ; Isoc. 15.9 ; Isoc. Letter
 6.6 . than those which have been published in former years, they may not
 compare it in the matter of rhetorical variety and finish to my former compositions but
 may judge it in relation to the subject matter which I have deemed appropriate to the
 present occasion. I intend to discuss the achievements of Athens and the virtues of our ancestors, although I shall not begin with
 them but with a statement of my personal experience, since it is more urgent, I think, to
 begin with this. For notwithstanding that I strive to live in a manner above reproach and
 without offence to others, I am continually being misrepresented by obscure and worthless
 sophists and being judged by the general public, not by what I really am, but by what they
 hear from others. Cf. Isoc.
 15.4-8 .