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Who are the three main characters in James Joyce’s Ulysses?

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James Joyce wearing a dark suit, light tie, round glasses, and a hat, looking to the side outdoors in Zurich, Switzerland. — James Joyce Irish writer James Joyce.

The three central characters in James Joyce’s novel Ulysses are:

Stephen Dedalus: A young man and aspiring artist who serves as a modern counterpart to the mythological figure Telemachus.12
Leopold Bloom: A Jewish advertising canvasser who acts as the novel's protagonist and a modern parallel to Odysseus (Ulysses).132
Molly Bloom: Leopold’s wife and a professional singer, who is modeled as a modern counterpart to Penelope.142

These characters are central to the novel's structure, which mirrors the journey of Homer’s Odyssey, while simultaneously exploring the mundane, everyday lives of people in Dublin on June 16, 1904.12