Odysseus ( /oʊˈdɪsiəs/ or /oʊˈdɪsjuːs/; Greek: Ὀδυσσεύς, Odusseus) or Ulysses (/juːˈlɪsiːz/; Latin: Ulyssēs, Ulixēs) was the Greek king of Ithaca and the hero of Homer's epic poem the Odyssey. Odysseus also plays a key role in Homer's Iliad and other works in the Epic Cycle.

Husband of Penelope, father of Telemachus, and son of Laërtes and Anticlea, Odysseus is renowned for his guile and resourcefulness, and is hence known by the epithet Odysseus the Cunning (mētis, or "cunning intelligence"). He is most famous for the ten eventful years he took to return home after the ten-year Trojan War and his famous Trojan Horse trick.

The name has several variants: Olysseus (Ὀλυσσεύς), Oulixeus (Οὐλιξεύς), Oulixes (Οὐλίξης) and he was known as Ulyssēs in Latin or Ulixēs in Roman mythology.

The etymology of the name is contested, according to one view, the name Odysseus derives from the verb odussomai (ὀδύσσομαι), meaning "to be wroth against', 'hate", suggesting that the name could be rendered as "the one who is wrathful/hated". Alternatively, it has been also suggested that this is of non-Greek origin and probably of non-Indo-European origin too, while it is of an unknown etymology.

Francesco Guccini (Italian: [franˈtʃesko ɡutˈtʃiːni] ( listen), born June 14, 1940) is an Italian singer-songwriter, considered one of the most important Cantautori. During the five decades of his music career he has recorded 16 studio albums and collections, and 6 live albums. He is also a writer, having published autobiographic and noir novels, and a comics artist. Guccini also worked as actor, soundtrack composer, lexicographer and dialectologist.

Guccini moved to Pàvana during World War II, then returned to Modena where he spent his teenage years and established his musical career. His debut album, Folk beat n. 1, was released in 1967, but the first success was in 1972 with the album Radici. He was harshly criticised after releasing Stanze di vita quotidiana, and answered to his critics with the song "L'avvelenata". His studio albums production slowed down in the nineties and 2000s, but his live albums continued being successful.

His lyrics have been praised for their poetic and literary value and have been used in schools as an example of modern poetry. Guccini has gained the appreciation of critics and fans, who regard him as an iconic figure. He has received several awards for his works; an asteroid, a cactus species and a butterfly subspecies have been named after him. The main instrument in most of his songs is the acoustic guitar.

Juhani Juice Leskinen (former Pauli Matti Juhani "Juice" Leskinen), better known as Juice Leskinen (pronounced [ˈjuisɛ] ( listen), not like the English word juice; born 19 February 1950 in Juankoski – died 24 November 2006 in Tampere), was one of the most prominent Finnish singer-songwriters of the late 20th century. From the early 1970s onward he released nearly 30 full-length albums, as well as writing song lyrics for dozens of Finnish artists. Several of Leskinen's songs have reached classic status in Finnish popular music, e.g., "Viidestoista yö", "Kaksoiselämää" and "Syksyn sävel". His early records are considered staples of the so-called Manserock movement of the mid-'70s. In addition to Leskinen's musical work, he extended his focus to poetry and playwriting with nine collections of verse and seven plays published.

After moving to Tampere to study in 1970, Leskinen began his recording career in 1973 with the eponymous debut album of Juice Leskinen & Coitus Int. One more record, Per Vers, runoilija, was made under the same band name, but from then on he released records with several line-ups, most notably Juice Leskinen Slam and Juice Leskinen Grand Slam from the late '70s until mid '80s. Although concentrating more on poetry from the early '90s, Leskinen still released new music every few years despite his failing health caused by years of unhealthy life habits. After the longest hiatus of his recording career, L marked Leskinen's 50th birthday in 2000. His last record, Senaattori ja boheemi (released in 2004), is a collaboration with Mikko Alatalo, a return to their partnership of the early 1970s.

Arnold Vosloo (born June 16, 1962) is a South African actor, best known for playing Imhotep in The Mummy (1999) and its 2001 sequel The Mummy Returns, as well as the role of the superhero Darkman in the sequel Darkman II: The Return of Durant (1994) and its 1996 sequel, Darkman III: Die Darkman Die. and more recently, a South African Mercenary named Colonel Coetzee (loosely based on Eeben Barlow) in the film Blood Diamond, a Middle Eastern terrorist named Habib Marwan in the television series 24, and Zartan in the film G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra and its upcoming 2013 sequel, G.I. Joe: Retaliation.

Vosloo was born in Pretoria, into an acting family, his parents (Johan J. Daniel Vosloo; Johanna Petronella Vorster Vosloo) having been stage-actors, and the family moved around quite a lot. They lived in Despatch, where his father ran a drive-in theater, and Alberton. He has one sister, Nadia. His acting talent was discovered quite early in a school play. After high school and military service (from which he received a medical discharge), he took drama courses at the Pretoria Technikon.