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A Persian king (centre) and the courtiers doing proskynesis (right).

Proskynesis, (Greek προσκύνησις) 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. To the Greeks, giving proskynesis to a mortal seemed like a totally barbarian and ludicrous practice. The Greek idea of freedom, independence, and autonomy dictated that bowing down to any mortal was out of the question. They reserved such submissions for the gods only. 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. Alexander the Great proposed this practice during his lifetime, in adapting to the Persian cities he conquered, but it obviously did not go over well (an example can be found in the court historian, Callisthenes) - in the end, he did not insist on the practice.

• Josef Wiesehöfer: "Denn ihr huldigt nicht einem Menschen als eurem Herrscher, sondern nur den Göttern". Bemerkungen zur Proskynese in Iran", in: C.G. Cereti / M. Maggi / E. Provasi (Hgg.), Religious Themes and Texts of Pre-Islamic Iran and Central Asia. Studies in Honour of Gh. Gnoli on the Occasion of his 65th Birthday on 6th December 2002, Wiesbaden 2003, S. 447-452.