Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Hey brain Stuff. I'm Lauren Vogelbaum, and this is another
Speaker 1: classic episode of the podcast. In this one, we talk
Speaker 1: about the Great Pox a k a. Syphilis and whether
Speaker 1: a certain Bard may have been afflicted with it. Hey
Speaker 1: brain Stuff, Lauren Vogelbaum. Here. William Shakespeare mentioned diseases often
Speaker 1: in his plays, probably because he was literally surrounded by them,
Speaker 1: I mean, aren't we all. But during his London based
Speaker 1: lifetime in the fifteen and sixteen hundreds, such notorious illnesses
Speaker 1: as the bubonic plague, typhus, and malaria ravaged citizens, all
Speaker 1: made more potent and deadly by rodents, over crowding and
Speaker 1: virtually non existent sanitation systems. Also striking fear into the
Speaker 1: hearts of just about everyone were smallpox and the Great pox,
Speaker 1: known today as syphilis. The two conditions actually present similar rashes,
Speaker 1: despite being different in terms of type of action and transmission.
Speaker 1: Smallpox is a virus spread by breathing. Syphilis is bacterial
Speaker 1: and almost always sexually transmitted. The hallmark of both diseases
Speaker 1: was a body riddled with pustules, also known as pox.
Speaker 1: It fell to the people to distinguish between these horrors. Thus,
Speaker 1: syphilis became known as the Great Pox, not because the
Speaker 1: pock marks of syphilis were larger than those of smallpox,
Speaker 1: but rather because, in the fifteen to seventeenth centuries, it
Speaker 1: was the greater fear. Syphilis was likely introduced to Europe
Speaker 1: when Christopher Columbus, that Guy and his crew brought it
Speaker 1: back from the New World in fourteen nine three. Although
Speaker 1: there are other theories, the timing is definitely suspect. The
Speaker 1: pandemic began in Europe pretty much right after they returned,
Speaker 1: killing many. Even those were lucky enough to survive, were
Speaker 1: typically covered in scars and went blind. Of course, the Europeans,
Speaker 1: for their part, left behind smallpox and other diseases in
Speaker 1: the New World, sometimes intentionally, which, how long with slavery,
Speaker 1: would wipe out millions of Native Americans. Fortunately, smallpox has
Speaker 1: now been eradicated by vaccine, and we have penicillin to
Speaker 1: treat syphilis. Shakespeare's writings indicate an interest in syphilis, such
Speaker 1: as in the play tim And of Athens, where he
Speaker 1: references the use of inhaled vaporized mercury salts, a common
Speaker 1: treatment for the disease at the time. In fact, one
Speaker 1: of his best known quotes was originally a reference to syphilis.
Speaker 1: A plague on both your houses from Romeo and Juliet
Speaker 1: was first a pox on both your Houses. Thanks to
Speaker 1: multiple references of syphilis and his works, historians have wondered
Speaker 1: whether Shakespeare himself was infected. Known for being a little
Speaker 1: bit of a hustler, his signature during the last years
Speaker 1: of his life indicates that he experienced a tremor, which
Speaker 1: is a common side effect of mercury poisoning, which, as
Speaker 1: we said, was the treatment of choice for syphilis. Of course,
Speaker 1: any number of physical ailments can cause a tremor, so
Speaker 1: it's unlikely that this posthumous diagnosis will ever be confirmed.
Speaker 1: Today's episode is based on the article You've Heard of Smallpox?
Speaker 1: But what was the Great Box? On houseworks dot com,
Speaker 1: written by Leah Hoyt. Brainstuff is production of I Heart
Speaker 1: Radio in partnership with house Toffworks dot Com, and it's
Speaker 1: produced by Tyler Clang. Four more podcasts from my Heart Radio,
Speaker 1: visit the I heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever
Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.