The present study is the result of many years of teaching by Papadiamantis at the Modern Greek Institute of Sorbonne. It is based on an objective, unbiased, purely literary reading of the entire body of the author's work: novels and short stories.

By observing various recurring images, scenes, expressions, and symbols from work to work, and attempting to decipher a series of texts where there is evidently a cryptographic writing style, it identifies three foundational, interconnected mythic units: 1) the myth of water, drowning, and the abyss, 2) the myth of death, 3) the 'family' myth, which narrates the love of the son for his imaginary mother, the Luciferian identification of the son with Christ, and the charming but murderous figure with the Virgin Mary, and the tragic end of this love.

The mythical character of Papadiamantis's writing is confirmed by the handling of various myths: variations, substitutions, reversals, etc. The image of Papadiamantis that emerges from this reading is, of course, very different from the usual one.

Studies of individual works have already been published over time in journals. It is hoped that their compilation into a single volume, or the organization of them in a logical sequence and their supplementation with other studies will demonstrate the absolute consistency of the Papadiamantic myth and convince the good-natured reader. Papadiamantis is an author of much greater scope than is usually assumed.