In my studies if the Greek version of the Assyrian Queen Semiramis, I quickly found that most of her military exploits were simply borrowings from tales of Alexander the Great. I made a close study of Alexander’s recurring use of emulation and imitation of mythical gods and conquerors. I spent two years studying the Macedonian king in detail alongside other academic pursuits. There is my exposure to the histories and myths of Alexander the Great.
As for drag queens, my exposure is decent enough. In my 20s I spent part of my time as a videographer. A friend told me the local gay bar was looking for someone to film their big Saturday event “Divas by Design.” So, for about two years I spent many Saturday nights filming drag queen monologues and lip sync performances. Those ladies were more on the professional end of the drag queen spectrum, it was not amateur night. At first the bar manager paid me in drinks. Eventually, he decided to pay in cash. Probably for good reason. I like cash more than long island iced teas, so this worked out nicely. Those were some fun times. I heard from at least two of the performers that they loved my camera work. This is what I did. Around the entire club and around the bar are these television screens, both large and small, which project everything I filmed. If you are consistently bad at panning and have a hard time finding nice appealing frames to display the action, then your bad work will be displayed on every wall and in various spots around the bar. I was good at filming the action, but the biggest problem was the time between performances, where all you are doing is filming the curtain. I quickly came up with tasteful shots for the ubiquitous monitors all over the club as everyone waited for the next performance, looking up from their drinks. One trick, I learned to zoom into the shiny spinning mirror ball, which would create an awesome effect throughout the room as the glare and glean of the disco ball shines brightly through every monitor. The trick the performers liked was when I would capture a great close up of the performer, or during a well framed pose and save it as a photograph or what videographers often call a still frame. As the drag queen would leave the stage I would fade up the still frame photo image. The audience would see the last performer on the screen instead of an empty stage. This helped showcase the last performer and gave my product a professional edge. The girls had tv monitors in the changing room, and raved about the still frame I would fade up as the performer disappeared off the stage. There you have it two years studying Alexander the Great and two years observing the drag queen arts.
One might ask, who was history's first drag queen? The answer is, we will never know. One might think British comedians have a monopoly on the art in comedy, but we must look further.
Alexander the Great, I found, would dress up as various gods and heroes while hanging out with his friends. We would dress like Herakles (The Romans called him Hercules), you know the lion-head helmet, the tiger fur strapped around one shoulder and a big wooden club in his hand. What is realized, when reading the list of gods who were subject to Alexander’s imitation is that Alexander dressed up like Artemis. Artemis, as you might know is the sister of Apollo. She is often considered the protector of little girls and small animals. Alexander would dress up like her and ride a chariot shooting arrows. On classical pottery she is pictured with her skirt and bow. Sometimes she has a long woman’s robe, or female style breastplate armor.
One soon realizes that one of the greatest known conquerors of the ancient world, would indeed, fit the modern definition of a drag queen. Alexander was a man who dressed up like a woman while performing for an audience. Historians have been questioning Alexander’s more intimate orientations, but dressing up as Artemis is hardly the biggest red flag. Alternatively, not all drag queens are what you think. Some of them have wives at home, they just like to get really drunk and dance around in women’s clothes. This has some similarity with Alexander the Great. For example, Alexander was a Member of the Macedonian elite. The drunken and bawdy Greeks themselves considered the Macedonians in the North to be outrageous drinkers who consumed unmixed wine. While it has yet to be determined, I would venture to guess, that if the drag queen arts were to fall under the realm of one of the Olympian gods it would be the god of wine and dancing women, a favorite of Alexander and the Macedonian elite in particular, Dionysus. Alexander, in retrospect, would simply have been an earnest devotee of his god, as heavy intoxication was often equated with the invocation of the God of Wine. In conclusion, we do not know exactly everything that is implied when we read about Alexander the Great playing the role of a Drag Queen, we only know he must have been really great at it.
Fig. 1 Alexander the Great
As for drag queens, my exposure is decent enough. In my 20s I spent part of my time as a videographer. A friend told me the local gay bar was looking for someone to film their big Saturday event “Divas by Design.” So, for about two years I spent many Saturday nights filming drag queen monologues and lip sync performances. Those ladies were more on the professional end of the drag queen spectrum, it was not amateur night. At first the bar manager paid me in drinks. Eventually, he decided to pay in cash. Probably for good reason. I like cash more than long island iced teas, so this worked out nicely. Those were some fun times. I heard from at least two of the performers that they loved my camera work. This is what I did. Around the entire club and around the bar are these television screens, both large and small, which project everything I filmed. If you are consistently bad at panning and have a hard time finding nice appealing frames to display the action, then your bad work will be displayed on every wall and in various spots around the bar. I was good at filming the action, but the biggest problem was the time between performances, where all you are doing is filming the curtain. I quickly came up with tasteful shots for the ubiquitous monitors all over the club as everyone waited for the next performance, looking up from their drinks. One trick, I learned to zoom into the shiny spinning mirror ball, which would create an awesome effect throughout the room as the glare and glean of the disco ball shines brightly through every monitor. The trick the performers liked was when I would capture a great close up of the performer, or during a well framed pose and save it as a photograph or what videographers often call a still frame. As the drag queen would leave the stage I would fade up the still frame photo image. The audience would see the last performer on the screen instead of an empty stage. This helped showcase the last performer and gave my product a professional edge. The girls had tv monitors in the changing room, and raved about the still frame I would fade up as the performer disappeared off the stage. There you have it two years studying Alexander the Great and two years observing the drag queen arts.
Fig. 2 Meme for Ancient Light episode #4
One might ask, who was history's first drag queen? The answer is, we will never know. One might think British comedians have a monopoly on the art in comedy, but we must look further.
Fig. 3 "Little Britain" David Walliams as Phyllis, with her spaniel, Mr. Doggy
Fig. 4 Artemis, sister of Apollo, protector of children and young animals. She is an expert with the bow.
One soon realizes that one of the greatest known conquerors of the ancient world, would indeed, fit the modern definition of a drag queen. Alexander was a man who dressed up like a woman while performing for an audience. Historians have been questioning Alexander’s more intimate orientations, but dressing up as Artemis is hardly the biggest red flag. Alternatively, not all drag queens are what you think. Some of them have wives at home, they just like to get really drunk and dance around in women’s clothes. This has some similarity with Alexander the Great. For example, Alexander was a Member of the Macedonian elite. The drunken and bawdy Greeks themselves considered the Macedonians in the North to be outrageous drinkers who consumed unmixed wine. While it has yet to be determined, I would venture to guess, that if the drag queen arts were to fall under the realm of one of the Olympian gods it would be the god of wine and dancing women, a favorite of Alexander and the Macedonian elite in particular, Dionysus. Alexander, in retrospect, would simply have been an earnest devotee of his god, as heavy intoxication was often equated with the invocation of the God of Wine. In conclusion, we do not know exactly everything that is implied when we read about Alexander the Great playing the role of a Drag Queen, we only know he must have been really great at it.
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