Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras hailed the end of a “modern-day Odyssey” on Tuesday after Greece emerged from nine years of bailouts, saying it should never forget the harsh lessons learned under tight financial supervision by its creditors.
“This is a day of liberation,” Tsipras declared, standing on a hilltop overlooking a bay on the Ionian island of Ithaca.
His decision to give a post-bailout speech on the island was laden with classical symbolism: in Homer’s epic poem, Odysseus, the King of Ithaca, returned home from the Trojan war after a 10-year voyage lost at sea.
Looking sombre, Tsipras said: “We will not commit the affront of ignoring the lessons of the bailout on Greece. We will not let oblivion mislead us.”
And he added: “We will never forget the cause, or the people who led our country into bailouts.”