Heavens and weather

Beam in the sky

δοκίς

dokis

Dokis is a beam, here a name for an elongated luminous appearance.

From the book

Stobaeus, Volume I

John Stobaeus · Diotimos Editions · 2026

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Orientation

At a Glance

  • The wordDokis is a beam, here a name for an elongated luminous appearance.
  • In StobaeusThe cosmological description groups beams with pits and comets among lights appearing and disappearing in the fiery, changeable region.
  • In this edition“Beam” retains the shape analogy; “beam-like light” prevents an overly literal reading.
  • A place to beginBeams are named among transient lights in the fiery region.
English renderings
beam-like light; beam in the sky

Meaning

Dokis is a beam, here a name for an elongated luminous appearance. The comparison concerns shape, not a wooden object in the heavens.

Use in the book

The cosmological description groups beams with pits and comets among lights appearing and disappearing in the fiery, changeable region. The term records an ancient appearance-based category. A precise modern identification requires more information than the name alone supplies.

Places to read

  1. I.40.1.9Beams are named among transient lights in the fiery region.

Translation in this edition

“Beam” retains the shape analogy; “beam-like light” prevents an overly literal reading.

Source note

Wachsmuth, volume I, printed pp. 257. The account places these phenomena below the aether in a changing region; it does not use modern astronomical categories.