Not exactly; it’s all a matter of perspective. We’re accustomed to the Christian story where John is the emcee who introduces Jesus; Islam regards both of them as prophets who are superseded by Mohammad. I think there’s still a sect that regards John as number one. John really existed, but in a context where there were numbers of competing prophets representing Hebrew and other suppressed interests in the Roman world. Exactly what he was about we don’t really know, as we mostly see him through the lens of more successful movements like Christianity and Islam. The Christians developed a back story where he’s actually a cousin of Jesus, but that’s dubious as history. To the modern mind the contrast between John’s asceticism and Salome’s sexuality is the matter of greatest interest, as in Oscar Wilde’s play, as illustrated by Aubrey Beardsley.