In met. 1, Ovid uses descriptions such as e. g. ‚mundi fabricator‘ (57) and ‚opifex rerum‘ (79) for the anonymous god who lets the world emerge from chaos. It is therefore surprising that Ovid employs the verb ‚iubere‘ three times when describing the activity of the god. This refrain-like ‚iussit‘ formula, which appears once again in the creation of man, has hardly been discussed in previous research. As will be shown, the verb ‚iubere‘ has a permissive meaning in all four instances: The creator of the world sets the framework for cosmic order. At the same time, he explicitly ‚authorises‘ natural forces to act independently within the bounds of this framework.