Socrates: A seventy-year-old man on trial for his life.  He is in a good demeanor throughout the entire trial and even has a few laughs at the expense of his accuser Meletus.  He argues very eloquently and with conviction for the way he has lived, always concerned for the state of his soul.  And even after the jurors vote for his execution he asks them to care for their souls in the same way they might care for the souls of his sons.  Plato presents Socrates almost as a martyr, and seen in the way the Plato would like us to see, the verdict is a grave mistake made by the jurors.

Meletus: An up-tight Athenian official, presumably around 30-40 years old.  He has publicly accused Socrates, and is the only other character in this work that speaks other than Socrates.  Plato makes it painfully obvious that he finds him to be loathsome, and incapable of having intelligent thought.  This is evident when Socrates logically proves Meletus' argument to be invalid, but Meletus stubbornly refuses to acknowledge his mistake and continues to bitterly testify against Socrates.