Jackie the Greek: the Onassis marriage and the hellenization of an American icon

Abstract

A 1968 series of satirical audio sketches concerning the marriage and lifestyle of Aristotle Onassis and Jacqueline Kennedy provides an opportunity to re-examine the reputation of this famous couple. These recordings connect with well-known negative assumptions – both in the contemporaneous media and in the previously restricted governmental files from the British National Archives used here – about Kennedy's cynicism and Onassis' Greek heritage. It will also be argued here that Jackie's attempts to engage with Greece, especially Modern Greece, were a deliberate choice as part of her new identity, but in reality merely contributed to her damaged image.

Keywords

• Onassis
• Hellenism
• American satire
• Skorpios
• Greek shipowners