Quote Originally Posted by Conqueror
The thing with geographical definitions is that they tend to be arbitrary. Why should the Dnieper mark the boundary rather than some other geographical feature(s)? If there is no reason to setting the border at a particular place, is there any point in trying to define "Europe" to begin with?

Another interesting thing is that if "european" simply refers to any inhabitant of an arbitrarily defined geographical area, then it must follow that for exmple greeks who settle on the Anatolian coast will cease to be europeans, while the huns will become europeans after they've migrated far enough west.
Well to take your example, Hellanism was about 50% self definition and 50% being let into the club. The Ancient Greeks invented Europe and they simple defined it as everything on the other side of the Hellespont. Europe was an area while Hellenism was a state of being. Later Outremer was never considered part of Europe but it was still part of Chrisendom.