Gedo discusses Slochower's book, Mythopoesis, in which Slochower makes a distinction between myth and mythopoesis, the creative utilization of an outworn myth by an artist so as to crystallize the current social and cultural situation of his people. Gedo agrees that Slochower has demonstrated a change in function of the myth when it undergoes mythopoesis, but he strongly disagrees that all mythopoetic works are reducible to Slochower's formula: the hero, having a nostalgic memory of Eden, goes on a quest resulting in homelessness and alienation, then returns home but, still not finding paradise, begins the cycle anew.