Ulysses takes place in a single day 16 June 1904 also known as Bloomsday it sets the characters and incidents of the Odyssey of Homer in modern Dublin and represents Odysseus (Ulysses) Penelope and Telemachus in the characters of Leopold Bloom his wife Molly Bloom and Stephen Dedalus and contrasts them with their lofty models. The book explores various areas of Dublin life dwelling on its squalor and monotony. Nevertheless the book is also an affectionately detailed study of the city. In Ulysses Joyce employs stream of consciousness parody jokes and virtually every other literary technique to present his characters. Many consider it the best novel of the twentieth century. It is powerfully written a book for the ages.