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	Proskynesis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
		Proskynesis, (Greek προσκυνήσις) formed from the Ancient Greek words pros and kuneo literally means "kissing towards", and refers to the traditional Persian act of prostrating oneself before a person of higher social rank.
		According to Herodotus in his Histories, a person of equal rank received a kiss on the lips, someone of a slightly lower rank gave a kiss on the cheek, and someone of a very inferior social standing had to completely bow down to the other person before them.
		This may have led some Greeks to believe that the Persians worshipped their king, who was the only Persian which received proskynesis from everyone, and other misinterpretations caused cultural conflicts.
	en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Proskynesis (243 words)

	Proskynesis - WCD (Wiki Classical Dictionary) (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-04)
		At the same time, the proskynesis ritual meant that the empire was not a melting pot in which all particularities disappeared; in his contacts with the king, everyone had to make the gestures and wear the array of clothes that were fitting for his social position and ethnicity.
		However, proskynesis was common practice at the courts of his successors.
		Proskynesis (http://www.livius.org/pp-pr/proskynesis/proskynesis.htm) Original version of this article, which was placed here with permission of its author.
	www.ancientlibrary.com /wcd/Proskynesis (493 words)

	Bryn Mawr Classical Review 97.4.7
		In B's own words: "Whichever alternative one adopts, it remains true that the proskynesis was intended by Alexander as an act of worship as much as court ceremonial, and that is how his courtiers interpreted it" (70).
		Proskynesis, which occurred after the punishment of Bessos (who challenged Alexander's role as Dareios' legitimate successor) and after the marriage to Rhoxane (which was accompanied by other mixed marriages, if we can believe Metz Epit.
		Similarly, B's inclination to accept the stories concerning Polyperchon's (possible) and Kassandros' (probable) ridiculing of proskynesis ignores the fact that it became popular in the Diadochic age for former 'companions' of Alexander to claim to have survived the king's ill-will (or, even, punishment).
	omega.cohums.ohio-state.edu /mailing_lists/BMCR-L/Mirror/1997/97.04.07.html (2259 words)

	More religion!
		In the Orthodox Church we pay respect and devout proskynesis to the holy relics, which, as with the respect to the saints, is not of a worshipping nature.
		The proskynesis of false gods and their idols or icons (in case they are personified deities) is severely punished (Exod.
		Even proskynesis at a saint's grave or another holy place involves proskynesis in front of the saint's icon that will be present by his or her grave.
	www.geocities.com /Athens/Styx/3079/mysteries.htm (7787 words)

	Portrait Illumniation of Basil II (Venice Psalter)
		Quite exceptionally, the four central figures have their palms placed downwards (not upwards, as was expected in proskynesis), supporting themselves as they kneel and bow low to the ground.
		The character to the fore in the bottom right corner has his hands clenched to form a loose grip, and his counterpart to the left, whose hands have mostly flaked away, may be similar.
		We should also remember that proskynesis was not an act performed only by defeated enemies -- although it certainly was performed by them -- but was also the formal act of adoration performed by the Roman emperor’s own subjects since the age of the Severi.
	homepage.mac.com /paulstephenson/madison/byzantium/psalter.html (1207 words)

	Salute - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
		Such gestures are rarer in cultures that do not have strong class structures; citizens of the Western World, for example, often react with hostility to the idea of bowing to an authority figure.
		The distinction between a formally polite greeting and an obeisance is often hard to make; for example, proskynesis (Greek for "kissing towards") is described by the Greek researcher Herodotus of Halicarnassus, who lived in the 5th century BC in his Histories 1.134:
		For instead of greeting by words, they kiss each other on the mouth; but if one of them is inferior to the other, they kiss one another on the cheeks, and if one is of much less noble rank than the other, he falls down before him and worships him.
	en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Salute (3790 words)

	Alexander the Great
		First, that proskynesis was mandatory before the King of Persia; secondly, that Greeks regarded it as confined to divine cult.
		Alexander would have known that proskynesis does not infer divinity in Persia, so his keeping the practice would therefore not mean that he was forcing others to recognize his divinity so much as keeping a Persian custom in order to assert his leadership.
		His failed policy of proskynesis was another method of ruling Persians, by keeping many of their customs alive, and can be put into the same category as adopting some Persian dress.
	www.horrorart.biz /Jennifer/Alexander.htm (1899 words)

	Mosiah 4
		The proskynesis was the falling to the earth (literally, "kissing the ground") in the presence of the king by which all the human race on the day of the coronation demonstrated its submission to divine authority; it was an unfailing part of the Old World New Year's rites as of any royal audience (Nibley, Hugh.
		While the connection between this particular event in the New World and an Old World ritual over 500 years distant is legitimately questionable, nevertheless, the anthropological logic of the situation suggests that the lowering of the head and body to the ground might have been a common mode of showing respect.
		Note the very first line of verse 2: "And they had viewed themselves in their own carnal state, even less than the dust of the earth." This sentence is given as a cause for the proskynesis, but it requires being inside the mind of the entire population.
	frontpage2000.nmia.com /~nahualli/LDStopics/Mosiah/Mosiah4.htm (7382 words)

	Leonnatus - WCD (Wiki Classical Dictionary) (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-04)
		The fourth incident puts him in a more infamous light – it is he, according to Arrian, who mocks the Persians when they perform proskynesis (A 4.12.2).
		Although Alexander was angry with Leonnatus at the time, his anger was brief; and not much later he was given the first of his military commands.
		As the Pages’ Conspiracy occurred after the proskynesis episode, it is probably his loyal action then, as much as anything else, that put him back into the king’s good books.
	www.ancientlibrary.com /wcd/Leonnatus (991 words)

	Airriess: Alexander the Great Divinity
		Furthermore, Taylor has postulated that the form of proskynesis as described in the sources, which is a proskynesis combined with a toast, was the pre-existing form of the worship of the agathos daimon associated with Dionysus.
		Bosworth says that the Greeks knew that proskynesis was simply Persian court protocol, but that the Greeks were troubled because of conflicts with their own beliefs.
		Thus, this seems to suggest then that Alexander was not trying to introduce proskynesis as either a method of harmonization to his dual cultural court life, or as a vehicle for divine propaganda purposes.
	grad.usask.ca /gateway/archive25.htm (4176 words)

	JewishEncyclopedia.com - ADORATION, FORMS OF: (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-04)
		Thus it came about, some decades later, that when Rab, the founder of rabbinical learning in Babylonia, returned to his home from Palestine, he ostentatiously remained standing in the synagogue when all others threw themselves prostrate on the ground.
		The Talmud regulated religious ceremonies to such minute details that not much remained for later times to do in this particular; hence we find that the medieval Forms of Adoration are identical with those of the Talmud.
		In post-Talmudic times, the full prostration (proskynesis) took place only on the Day of Atonement, and then four times, and on New-year's Day once; while the
	www.jewishencyclopedia.com /view.jsp?artid=855&letter=A (2264 words)

	History of Iran: Persian Empire
		For the tale goes that Alexander even desired that people make proskynesis to him, from the idea that Ammon was his father rather than Philip, and since he now emulated the ways of the Persians and Medes, both by the change of his clothes and the altered arrangements of his general way of life.
		The king was talking to Hephaeston and paying no attention to Callisthenes, and the philosopher, after he had drunk came forward to kiss him.
		When he arrived at Opis, he collected the Macedonians and announced that he intended to discharge from the army those who were useless for military service either from age or from being maimed in the limbs; and he said he would send them back to their own abodes.
	irantarikh.com /persia/alex-dev.htm (420 words)

	History on Podium: How ‘Great’ Was Alexander? [P.2]
		It was plain stupidity on his part if he thought his men would embrace the custom with relish, and his action clearly shows that he had lost touch with his army and the religious beliefs on which he had been raised.
		This took place in 324, so obviously over the intervening years the situation had grown from bad to worse, with little or nothing on the part of Alexander to pour oil on troubled waters.
		If anything, Alexander ignored the displeasure of his men if his move to introduce proskynesis at his court in 327, as noted above, was meant to be a means of recognising his divinity.
	www.iranchamber.com /podium/history/030915_how_great_was_alexander2.php (2454 words)

	pothos.org - Callisthenes (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-04)
		His main ‘claim to fame’ in the extant sources comes during the period when he lost favour with Alexander, which eventually led to his arrest and execution on charges of conspiracy in 327BC (as a member of the ‘Pages Conspiracy’).
		Callisthenes was an opponent of Alexander’s orientalising, and things came to a head when Alexander attempted to introduce the custom of proskynesis.
		Although the custom had no religious significance to the Persians prostration was, as far as the Greeks and Macedonians were concerned, only something one did before gods.
	www.pothos.org /alexander.asp?paraID=29&keyword_id=9&title=Callisthenes (771 words)

	proskunew
		However, I'm not so sure I would agree with Jim that the notion of a proskynesis is to be "derived" from judicial practice-- I think the judicial practice just uses and formalizes a custom whose origin is lost in deep antiquity.
		As I say, it's just one of the ways human beings show their feelings.
		I don't know if attachments are possible on this list, but I have a picture of an old icon that shows Jesus praying in a proskynesis, which I can easily scan and either send to the list or to anyone that writes me privately.
	lists.ibiblio.org /pipermail/b-greek/1999-June/005863.html (366 words)

	Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic Age: Tutorial Questions
		Note that there are two different accounts of the introduction of proskynesis in the passage of Arrian set for today.
		Lecture 9: The new institutions of the Hellenistic kings and the decline of democracy.
		In the same way that Arrian's editorialising "framed" his account of the attempted introduction of proskynesis, interpreting it as deification, Athenaeus "frames" his discussion of Demetrius and the Athenians.
	www.anchist.mq.edu.au /222/222weekly.htm (6924 words)

	History on Podium: Alexander and ‘the Interests of Historical Accuracy’: A Reply
		The same story is basically given in all three sources, but the identity of the man (or men) who mocked the Persian is controversial.
		Bosworth believes that there were two distinct occasions involving the mockery of proskynesis, once in 327 when either Leonnatus or Polyperchon were the culprits, and another in 323 when Cassander had newly arrived at the court.
		He argues that if a Leonnatus were involved it could not have been the Bodyguard because he continued to be influential in Alexander’s entourage.
	www.iranchamber.com /podium/history/030916_alexander_historical_accuracy_reply.php (2591 words)

	Worship
		This is certainly not true in Mt. Perhaps there was such a form of greeting...
		But in Mt. the use of proskunein shows that those who thus fall down already involuntarily and unconsciously declare by their attitude with whom they have to do.
		The proskynesis of the wise men (Mt. 2:2,11, assumed in 2:8) is truly offered to the Ruler of the world...
	www.bibletexts.com /terms/worship.htm (873 words)

	Orthodox Rebuttal
		For 'proskynesis' is translated by the latin 'adoratio' which is equalled to worship.
		Thus when we say we worship the Icons and the saints we are saying we are giving them 'aspasmos' and 'proskynese' not 'latreia' which is reserved for God alone.
		All we need to do is to understand that worship is the translation of the latin adoratio, which is a translation of the Greek proskynesis, which does not refer to the worship offered to God alone (latreia), but indicates a 'relative worship'.
	www.bcbsr.com /topics/ortho_greg.html (3091 words)

	CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Good Friday
		The act in question is not intended as an expression of absolute supreme worship (latreia) which, of course, is due to God alone.
		The essential note of the ceremony is reverence (proskynesis) which has a relative character, and which may be best explained in the words of the Pseudo-Alcuin: "Prosternimur corpore ante crucem, mente ante Dominium.
		Veneramur crucem, per quam redempti sumus, et illum deprecamur, qui redemit" (While we bend down in body before the cross we bend down in spirit before God.
	www.newadvent.org /cathen/06643a.htm (2274 words)

	Ikons - Windows into Heaven - The Middle Byzantine Period
		The ikonoclasts claimed that ikons were being worshiped, while the ikonodules argued that it was only veneration of ikons and a type of 'salute' of the original depicted in the ikon.
		The actual Greek word for this veneration is proskynesis, and it the same veneration that was given to the Emperor.
		It involved humble reverence and bowing, but it was not worship.
	www.pallasweb.com /ikons/middle.html (878 words)

	Lecture notes 3/17/01
		-Act of Proskynesis: jesture of submission, form of respect
		-Alexander demanded proskynesis it from Greeks, tried to justify it by Persians practiced toward ruler
		-to greeks proskynesis was distasteful to practice it toward alexander, it would be disrespectful to the Gods
	hyper.vcsun.org /HyperNews/battias/get/cs327/ird/80.html (713 words)

	Guide: Life of Alexander
		Plutarch chooses to ignore Alexander's (difficult) campaign in Bactria during 329 and 328, choosing instead to discuss the difficulties he encounter when his attempts to introduce Persian customs among the Macedonians.
		His attempt to have Macedonians and Greeks do proskynesis (i.e., to lay down on the ground before him) offends many.
		His love match with Roxanne, the Bactrian princess.
	www.siu.edu /~dfll/classics/Civ2004/guides/textguides/lifealex.html (1062 words)

	Topica Email List Directory
		The first is 'proskynesis' which is traditionally accepted as
		I might write a post praising the wonders of Terry Taylor's
		songwriting (proskynesis) but I would never suggest he was the
	lists.topica.com /lists/dadl-ot/read/message.html?mid=800056939 (771 words)

	Texts on the Web (Alexander the Great on the Web) (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-04)
		Web Archive: Alexander's birth (Plutarch) from Cartledge and Duggan, Documents for the Study of the Gospels.
		Plutarch, "Alexander the Great's Habits" (wine and proskynesis), from Houghton Mifflin's Mosaic.
		Complete text: Plutarch, On the Fortune or the Virtue of Alexander the Great (Philips/Goodwin translation).
	www.isidore-of-seville.com /alexander/9.html (951 words)

	Report Bibliographies (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-04)
		DUE 10/27: Proskynesis, Callisthenes and the Page Conspiracy
		Remember to look up all the ancient source references.
		What is the connection between "proskynesis" and Callisthenes' fall from favor?
	luna.cas.usf.edu /~murray/classes/aa/rpt-bib-98.htm (982 words)

	ATG & the Macedonian Origin: Early Victories (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-04)
		The Philotas Affair, proskynesis, and the Pages' Conspiracy
		Persians perform proskynesis anyway, Macedonian laughs, ATG's rage
		Left a bad taste in the Macedon's mouths
	myweb.unomaha.edu /~jreameszimmerman/Alexander/baktria.html (282 words)

	RatherNotBlog (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-04)
		In essence, iconoclasts (including such Byzantine emperors as Leo III the Isaurian and Constantine V) attempted to remove or destroy the icons that had become a common feature of Christian devotion by the 8th century, believing that this was required by the second commandment.
		Defenders of icons (iconodules or iconophiles—most famously St John of Damascus and St Theodore the Studite) insisted, however, that one of the central doctrines of Christianity, the Incarnation, permitted the veneration (douleia or proskynesis) of icons, while forbidding them the worship (latreia, Latin adoratio) due only to God.
		To venerate icons was thus not to commit idolatry (eidolon latreia), while to deny that Christ could be depicted was to deny the Incarnation.
	rathernot.classicalanglican.net (13725 words)

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