ATHENS - Years of international financial bailouts for and national austerity measures in Greece are over, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said Tuesday in a televised address.

He said "a historic day has dawned for Greece" after the country's exit from the painful bailout programs introduced in 2010 to avert default, according to Greek state broadcaster ERT.

As the prime minister was visiting Ithaca island in western Greece, which is the home of the Odysseus, the legendary hero in Homer's epic poem "Odyssey," he said Greece's modern Odyssey is over and the Greek people can begin to rebuild.