page_title: Proskynesis
hierarchical_section_title: Proskynesis
caption_attribution_description: English: Different kinds of bows in Eastern Orthodoxy.
context_page_description: Proskynesis or proscynesis, or proskinesis an act of solemn expression of respect for the gods and people; among the Persians, it was that a man prostrated himself and kissed the earth, kissed the arms or legs of a respected person. Proskynesis was one of the religious rites of the Greeks and Romans.
  In the Byzantine ceremonial it is a common gesture of supplication or reverence. The physical act ranged from full prostration to a genuflection, a bow, or a simple greeting and concretized the relative positions of performer and beneficiary within a hierarchical order.
context_section_description: Proskynesis /ˌprɒskɪˈniːsɪs/ or proscynesis /ˌprɒsɪˈniːsɪs/, or proskinesis /ˌprɒskɪˈniːsɪs/ (Greek προσκύνησις, proskýnēsis; Latin adoratio) an act of solemn expression of respect for the gods and people; among the Persians, it was that a man prostrated himself and kissed the earth, kissed the arms or legs of a respected person. Proskynesis (adoratio) was one of the religious rites of the Greeks and Romans. 
  In the Byzantine ceremonial it is a common gesture of supplication or reverence. The physical act ranged from full prostration to a genuflection, a bow, or a simple greeting and concretized the relative positions of performer and beneficiary within a hierarchical order (taxis).
caption: Different degrees of proskynesis, from a slight bow of the head to full prostration.