The thematic framework of the conference was dictated by Seferis' own work, in all its manifestations: translational, epistolary, essayistic-critical, and poetic. It was also influenced by the fact that, as the critics unanimously agree, Seferis engages in various ways with Greek and foreign literature. He himself, moreover, considered Eliot's work as a technical limit, precisely because the English poet and critic managed to incorporate into it the entire European literary tradition from Sappho to his contemporary era. The same can be said for Seferian poetry. Seferis, as a poeta doctus, had solid intellectual baggage. The dynamic interaction between Greek and foreign literature on the one hand, and his reading activity on the other, was extremely fruitful. The translations of the works of important poets such as Eliot, Yeats, Michaux, Valéry, and many others were the result of Seferis' encounter with foreign literature. And of course, traces of their poetry are imprinted throughout his entire Seferian work. He himself expressed this by condensing the intertextual play of intellectual creation in his well-known verse: "our words are the children of many people".
At the same time, Seferis' reading of works from the Greek tradition resulted in the revision of many views that constituted commonplaces of the time, or the reassessment of poets such as Cavafy or works such as "Erotokritos". Furthermore, the poet's love for ancient literature is well known, the outcome of which is both his translational achievements and the dialogue he attempts with his compatriots, primarily from classical but also from late antiquity.
The relationship of Seferis' work with tradition and its reception by the poet has been studied by philological science, but not yet sufficiently. The Scientific Meeting around this thematic axis aimed to deepen our knowledge of the fruitful dialogue between the poet and the European literary tradition.