Hera's Cage



"The forge and dove shall break the cage"

- Hera's cage mentioned in a prophecy

Hera's cage was a magical prison used to trap and utilize the power of the goddess Hera to raise the giant king Porphyrion.

The Lost Hero
Prior to the beginning of the book, Khione - allied with Gaea - lures Hera to the Wolf House where she imprisons the goddess within a cage and uses her power to raise Porphyrion, which will mark the beginning of the Second Giant War. Hera, despite being weakened by the cage, makes contact with Jason Grace, Piper McLean, and Leo Valdez to free her before the Winter Solstice.

The three demigods embark on a quest to find and release Hera from her cage. When they finally make it to the Wolf House, Hera is extremely weak as the earth surrounding her and Porphyrion start to rise. Meanwhile, Piper and Leo uncover a line from the prophecy that helps them break the cage: as Piper uses her charmspeak to lull Gaea to sleep, Leo uses his pyrokinesis to break the bindings of the cage. They successfully manage to release Hera, who subsequently assumes her divine form and unleashes her power to kill the monsters in the Wolf House, restore it to its former state, and to thaw the frozen Hunters of Artemis.

Abilities
The cage was capable of imprisoning a god as powerful as Hera, as well as drain her of her power. Because it is connected to the earth, the cage's bindings could not be broken unless it's connection with Gaea is severed, a weakness exploited by Piper and Leo to destroy it.

Trivia

 * The cage is similar in usage to the golden chain-link net used to catch Aphrodite and Ares during their affairs.