Odyssey mania is upon us

Christopher Nolan's film adaptation of Homer's epic poem is one of the most anticipated films in recent cinema history.   But what is it about this story, first told maybe 3000 years ago, that so fascinates us?   Who really wrote it and why does it represent, with Homer's other great work The Iliad, the foundation of western literature?   Tanjil Rashid is joined by The Odyssey's latest translator, classical scholar and literary critic Daniel Mendelsohn