God, gods and spirits play a central role in The Apology of Socrates. It is no accident that the last word of Socrates' defense is "God" (746). In directly addressing the charge of atheism and corrupting the youth, Socrates makes the accusation seem ludicrous. Plato emphasizes the importance of the gods in accordance to Socrates' wisdom. It is the Oracle at Delphi that prophesizes that he is the wisest of the wise. He is not trying to intentionally defy the gods but question in hope to arrive to some sort of truth and meaning. This is his method of gaining knowledge and truth, through questioning endless possibilities and he does so while passing on his knowledge and encouraging others to think outside the box; it is the gods that gave him this wisdom, "Then I went to one man after another, being not unconscious of the enmity which I provoked, and I lamented and feared this: But necessity was laid upon me, --the word of God, I thought, ought to be considered first" (731). Ancient literature highlights multiple gods that are ever changing and changing the fate of humans and Socrates interprets that one should strive to be like God if God is the supreme which early modern literature emphasizes.
             Ancient literature speaks of the citizens of the city to follow and obey the gods of the city and Meletus, one of Socrates' three accusers, confuses himself as to which gods Socrates follows and obeys. As Socrates reminds us, the result of his conversations and questions is usually if not always a denial. Someone is shown to contradict himself and thereby reveal that he did not know what he was talking about, that he was not wise. The case of the Oracle of Delphi is different. Socrates' relentless questioning of others convinces him that the oracle was right after all. Because although Socrates, like other mortals, lacks wisdom, he at least knows that he lacks wisdom. So the oracle proved ...