William Shakespearementioned diseases often in his plays , probably because he wasliterally surroundedby them . During his London - based lifetime , such ill-famed illnesses as bubonic plague , typhus and malaria ravaged citizens , all made more stiff and deadly by rodents , overcrowding and nigh non - existent sanitization systems . Also strike fear into the hearts of just about everyone were smallpox and syphilis , also know as the"great lues . "
The two conditions really presentsimilar rashesdespitebeing differentin eccentric of disease and transmittance . Smallpoxis viral , disperse by breathing ; syphilis is bacterial and almost always sexually transmitted . The hallmark of both diseases was a consistence penetrate with pustules , also get laid as lues venerea ( or pocks , if you ’re into ye Olde - English manner of speaking ) . It vanish to the people to distinguish between the horror . Thus syphilis became known as the " great syph , " because in the 15th to 17th centuries , it was the greater fear — not because the pock mark of syphilis were larger than those of smallpox .
Syphilis waslikely introducedto Europe when Christopher Columbus ’s crew brought it back from the New World in 1493 . Although there are other theories , the timing is by all odds suspicious – the pandemic began in Europe pretty much right after they turn back , killing many . Even those who were lucky enough to live on were typically address in scar and turned unsighted , clearly not such a pretty fate . In " homecoming , " the Europeans leave behind smallpox and other diseases in the New World , which , along with slavery , wiped out millions of Native Americans . Smallpox is extremely contagious , causes fever and even death in 30 percentage of type , according to the CDC . luckily , smallpox has now been eradicated by vaccine and we have penicillin to treat syphilis .
Shakespeare’swritingsindicate an pursuit in syphilis , such as in the play " Timon of Athens , " where he cite the use of inhaled vaporized mercury salts , a mutual intervention for the disease at the time . In fact , one of his best - known quote was originally a reference to syphilis – " A plague on both your houses ! " from " Romeo and Juliet " was first " A pox on both your house . "
