Abstract: A device for shaping the cornea of an eye, including a laser (1), the laser beam of which has a circular mode of distribution, and a beam-shaping device and a beam-guiding device, which direct the laser beam onto the cornea. To homogenize the energy density over the cross section of the beam, the beam-shaping device is provided with a focusing optic which focuses the laser beam, a diffraction element which is disposed at a short distance from the focus plane of the focusing optic and the diffraction maxima of which interfere with the minima of the mode of distribution, and an image-field diaphragm which is disposed at a site which is optically conjugate to the cornea.