The debt-laden Mediterranean state sold 1.56 billion euros of 6-month and 1-year treasury bills in auctions needed to fill a gap in short-term state financing, buying time to consider whether to grab the estimated 45 billion euro EU/IMF aid deal.
But the price it paid was still much higher than normal and did not fully quash doubts over Greece's ability to beat on its own a debt crisis shaking the euro.
Analysts said Greece's biggest immediate hurdle, a 10-year, 8.5 billion euro bond coming due in May, remained, and the country of 11 million still faced a long-term slog to win back investor confidence and return to economic health.
Markets, too, showed few signs of an end to the crisis, with yields of Greece's 10-year benchmark bonds hovering around a percentage point lower than last week's euro-era highs but still double that of euro zone stalwart Germany's.
"Today's successful Greek short-term debt auctions will further ease fears about Greece meeting its near-term financing needs, but it still faces an uphill struggle to return the public finances to a sustainable position," said Ben May, an analyst at Capital Economics.
Analysts noted that the interest rates were more than double previous tenders and would exert more pressure on budget spending due to higher interest costs, a factor that could eventually pressure it to grab the aid lifeline.
The government is trying to cut last year's public sector deficit by around a third to 8.7 percent of gross domestic product this year, but the spike in its debt costs has raised spending and its budget measures are expected to deepen an economic contraction of 2 percent, making that goal difficult.
It has not yet asked to tap the aid, which includes an extra 10-15 billion euros from the International Monetary Fund, and Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou said Athens would stay with its plan of tapping external markets.
"We are sticking to our target and I believe we will continue to borrow from markets smoothly, as we did today with the T-bills," Papaconstantinou told parliament.
"The Greek government has not asked for the mechanism to be activated, although it remains available if needed."
Demand for the debt was high at 8.5 billion euros. The auction produced a uniform yield of 4.85 percent for the one- year paper and 4.55 percent for the 6-month.
"This should help to dissipate some doubts that were in place after the not-very-successful auction carried out just after the euro zone safety net was firstly announced," said Diego Iscaro of IHS Global Insight.
"On a more negative note, yields are still high, showing that markets are still cautious about lending money to Greece."
Most of the demand, as with T-bill tenders in most countries, was dominated by Greek banks, and interest from abroad has taken a major hit since its risk premium spiraled to euro record highs last week.
On Monday, the head of investment fund Pacific Investment Management (Pimco) said the fund would not be buying new Greek debt because it thought the euro zone rescue deal would not tackle long-term solvency problems.
That was followed on Tuesday by a recommendation by ABN Amro's private bank to avoid Greek bonds because it was still unclear whether Athens could carry out its promised reforms.
"We are far from done on the fiscal adjustment in Greece," the bank's chief investment officer Didier Duret said.
Following a brief rally, the euro fell to a session low versus the dollar of $1.3598, from a near one-month high of $1.3691 on Monday.
The premium investors demand to buy Greek 10-year state bonds rather than their German benchmark counterparts was roughly flat, fluctuating between 355 to 360 basis points after the auctions. Last week it hit a euro era high of 463.
Including Tuesday's auction, Greece has borrowed more than 25.5 billion euros so far this year, equivalent to around 10 percent of its GDP, to cover redemptions and deficits. Its projected total borrowing need this year is 53.2 billion.
Euro zone officials gave a thumbs-up to the rescue package and backed Greece's stance of first shunning the aid.
"Greece will go to the markets with debt issues in the near future. One will see how that develops. But Greece is now in a stronger position because we have built up a back-stop position," European Central Bank Governing Board member Ewald Nowotny told reporters.
"The aid program is not a gift, it is a loan. It is helping Greece to help itself."