They held him by his heel. When Achilles was “dipped”, it was simply his heel left unprotected. His heel was still his downfall, if you are to believe Homer, and led not only to a historic battle and loss, but became the go-to moniker for tendons and every prominent weakness… well, ever.
For years, one of my own Achilles heels had to do with flattery. My sense of self-worth was poor enough you could get me to do just about anything by telling me I was good at it, or even that I could be. I got stuck in more dead-end jobs, weekend moves, relationships, and half-assed productions simply because someone who had a say in such things said something nice to me.