Polyphemus is the blind Cyclops who fights by sound, punishing you with a boulder counter whenever you hit him while he listens.
Polyphemus is the first Surface Guardian in Hades 2, and the only boss who can punish you for attacking at the wrong moment with a boulder to the head.
He is the Infamous Cyclops, the blind shepherd of the City of Ephyra, and the same monster Odysseus 
once blinded. Since losing his eye he fights by smell and sound, which is the whole key to the encounter.
His Where Are You stance is the signature mechanic. When he cups his ear to listen, hitting him triggers a boulder that drops on your last position for massive damage, so knowing which attacks are safe matters more here than raw output.
This guide covers who Polyphemus is, his two-phase kit, the Where Are You counter and the four sheep types, the loadout that beats him, and the mistakes that turn an easy Guardian into a wall.
Polyphemus, the Cyclops, an 8,400-health melee Guardian with a counter that punishes mistimed hits.Polyphemus is the Infamous Cyclops, a man-eating shepherd blinded by Odysseus, and the Guardian who blocks the City of Ephyra on the Surface route.
The wiki retells his myth: Odysseus and his crew were trapped in his cave and some were eaten before Odysseus got him drunk and put out his single eye. In Hades 2 he is still blind, navigating by smell and hearing and wearing fake eyes to cope, and he has aligned with Chronos 
.
His family ties him straight into another Guardian. His mother is Thoosa and his grandfather is Phorcys, which makes Scylla 
his aunt. He fights alongside Medea 
under the Vow of Rivals, and is voiced by Logan Cunningham as of patch v1.0.
Despite the brutishness, the wiki notes he genuinely loves his sheep and even softens toward Melinoe 
over repeat runs, drifting from enemy to grudging rival. He is the first Guardian of the Surface route, the easiest of the four by health but tricky if you do not respect his counter.
Polyphemus has just 8,400 health across two phases, the lowest of any Surface Guardian, but his Where Are You counter and his sheep make the fight a timing puzzle rather than a damage race.
His first phase is melee: a Slam, a Leap with a landing shockwave, a Grab that deals unavoidable damage if it connects, and a Kick that sends a wave across the arena. The wiki specifies that escaping his Grab leaves him clutching his head and open for a few seconds, which is a prime damage window.
| Element | What it does |
|---|---|
| Where Are You? | He cups his ear to listen. Dealing most kinds of damage triggers a boulder that falls on your last position for massive damage with fast shockwaves. |
| Grab | Continuous unavoidable damage if it lands. Escape it and he grabs his head, leaving an opening. He can also grab a sheep for its effect. |
| Phase 2 adds | At 75% he summons Lubbers, then Walks (spawning Shamblers each step) and Stomps. He summons reinforcements again at 25%. |
| The four sheep | White heals him if grabbed, Golden blocks projectiles and pushes you, Green charges and stuns, Black explodes. Grabbing colored sheep hurts him. |
If you raise the Vow of Rivals to Tier 1 or above, Medea joins and feeds him poison buffs. While she is present any poison ticks until you reach a Curing Pool, and Polyphemus throws three boulders instead of one when he spots you.
Stop attacking the instant he cups his ear, punish his open windows hard, and keep the sheep in mind, because his low health means a clean run ends fast.
The Where Are You stance is the whole skill check. The wiki states that any Attack, Special, or Cast will make him spot you and drop a boulder on your position, so hold your damage while he listens and reposition. There is a long list of damage sources that do not trigger the counter, including all Hex damage and many Cast-empowering boons like Demeter Arctic Ring, which lets a few specific builds keep dealing damage straight through the stance.
Bait and punish the rest. Escaping his Grab opens him for a few seconds of free damage, and the sheep are a resource as much as a hazard: keep him away from the White Sheep so he cannot heal, and let the colored sheep hurt him if he grabs them. Demeter 
Freeze or a Hephaestus 
blast both keep pressure on while sidestepping the counter.
Memorize the Where Are You list. If your build leans on Hex damage or a Cast-empowering boon like Demeter Arctic Ring, those keep ticking damage even while he listens, since the wiki notes they do not trigger the boulder counter. That turns his signature mechanic into a non-issue for the right run.
His 8,400 health is low, so burst damage ends the fight before the sheep and adds get out of hand, while Hex and Cast effects bypass his counter entirely.
Cast-heavy builds shine because the wiki lists Cast-empowering boons among the damage that does not trigger Where Are You. Pairing a Poseidon 
or Demeter Cast with a strong Attack lets you keep chipping while he listens. Strong single-target burst from any god also works given how little health he has.
For keepsakes, Odysseus and his Knuckle Bones are thematically perfect here and mechanically strong, cutting this Guardian HP and the damage he deals. The poison threat from Medea under the Vow of Rivals makes a healing source or the nearest Curing Pool worth tracking. Mobility keepsakes help you escape the Grab and stay clear of the sheep.
Because his health is so low, this is a fight where a single big burst build also works fine, unlike Prometheus. The real losses here come from the boulder counter and a White Sheep heal, not from a lack of damage. Play the timing and the damage takes care of itself.
Polyphemus is the Infamous Cyclops, a man-eating shepherd from the Odyssey who was blinded by Odysseus. In Hades 2 he serves Chronos as the Guardian of the City of Ephyra, the first boss of the Surface route. He is Scylla's nephew through his mother Thoosa.
Stop attacking whenever he cups his ear for Where Are You, or he drops a boulder on your position. Punish the opening after his Grab whiffs, keep him away from the White Sheep that heals him, and use his low 8,400 health to burst him down.
Where Are You is Polyphemus's listening stance. He pauses and cups his hand to his ear, and dealing most kinds of damage triggers a boulder that falls on your last position for massive damage. Hex damage and several Cast-empowering boons do not trigger it.
Four sheep spawn in phase two. The White Sheep heals Polyphemus if he grabs it, the Golden Sheep blocks projectiles and pushes you away, the Green Sheep charges and stuns you, and the Black Sheep explodes. Grabbing a colored sheep actually damages Polyphemus.
Polyphemus has 8,400 health, the lowest of the four Surface Guardians. The difficulty comes from his Where Are You counter and the sheep, not from a long health bar, so timing matters more than raw damage output.
Burst damage to exploit his low health, or a Cast and Hex build that bypasses his counter. The wiki lists Cast-empowering boons and Hex damage among the sources that do not trigger Where Are You, so those builds can keep dealing damage while he listens.
Only with the Vow of Rivals at Tier 1 or higher. Medea feeds Polyphemus poison buffs, and while she is present any poison ticks until you reach a Curing Pool. He also throws three boulders instead of one when he spots you.
Polyphemus is the Guardian of the City of Ephyra, the first region of the Surface route. Beating him opens the path toward Eris at the Rift of Thessaly, Prometheus at Mount Olympus, and Typhon at the Summit.
Keep building out your Hades 2 knowledge with these next stops.
Game data and character art adapted from hades.fandom.com, used under CC BY-SA 3.0. Original content remains the property of the wiki contributors and Supergiant Games.