The volume "KALLINIKOS. A tribute to Professor Panos Valavani by his students" is a gift to the professor from a part of the large group of his students, following his retirement from the Department of History and Archaeology of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens as a minimal token of gratitude for his selfless and longstanding contribution to the academic field.

This is a collective work, curated by Irini M. Dimitriadou and Nikolaos Dimakis, consisting of 53 articles – contributions, written in both Greek and English. The themes of the volume cover the field of the research and teaching work of the honoree, and the articles are organized into seven thematic units: 1. Vessels and iconography. 2. Other vessels and pottery. 3. Athenian topography. 4. Topography and architecture outside Athens. 5. Worship, Politics – Ideology. 6. Ancient Athletics. 7. Miscellaneous.

The title of the volume, "Kallinikos," comes from perhaps the greatest research passion of the honoree, the area of ancient athletics and the Olympic Games. There, in the victorious processions, spectators deified the glorious winner with the Archilochus's victorious hymn "Tinella Kallinike," where tinea, a meaningless word – constructed by Archilochus for the enjoyment of its euphonious alliteration of consonants, like a guitar string – provided emphasis to the one who carried and earned a beautiful victory.