How does James Joyce describe Ulysses in his book? How does Joyce's description differ from Homer's?

Although James Joyce titled his book
Ulysses, the plot of the novel centers around the characters of
Leopold Bloom and Stephen Dedalus.  Essentially, Joyce's title, as well as the episodes
in the novel, only allude to Homer's epic.  Leopold Bloom is the Odysseus figure, since
he is a father in search of a son.  (Bloom's own son, Rudy, died in infancy.)  Likewise,
Stephen Dedalus, the Telemachus figure in the novel, is in search of a father figure
because of the broken relationship he has with his own
father. 

Each chapter in the novel mirrors an episode from
The Odyssey, but readers who are unfamiliar with Homer's work will
inevitably miss the allusion altogether.  (Because this book is so difficult to
understand, however, most readers require guides to help them get through Joyce's text. 
Such guides describe the similarities--both in terms of theme and character
development--between The Odyssey and
Ulysses.