Is Lycaon's Feast a Mockery of Augustus?

The basic logic is as follows:
a. Jove is equivalent to Augustus.
b. Jove is a doofus.
c. Therefore, Augustus is a doofus.

When the first two parts are demonstrated, the third follows. The first is established early on in Metamorphoses (Book I) and then reiterated at the end in Book XV. Interpreters have identified the immorality of Jove as a mockery of Augustus, who was well known for his empire-wide moral reform.

Early in the story of Lycaon’s feast, Ovid says (in Martin’s translation), “…and if I were permitted to speak freely, I would not hesitate to call this enclave the Palatine of heaven’s ruling class.” (I.240-242) He then proceeds to describe awesome Jove/Augustus, who worries that the human disease will spread. Again the comparison is made between the omnipotents: “It was as when that band of traitors raged to annihilate the name of Rome by shedding the blood of Caesar’s heir; stunned by the frightful prospect of utter ruin, the human race throughout the world, as one, began to shudder; nor was the piety of your own subjects, Augustus, any less agreeable to you than that of Jove’s had been to him.” (I.279-286)

So Jove comes down in human form to get a closer look, and sure enough, Lycaon offers him cooked human flesh for dinner, and plans on murdering the great god himself. This justifies the almost complete annihilation of the world by flood.

Perhaps this is bait laid out early on, a trap set for readers sympathetic to Augustus, or even for Augustus himself.

The story is meant to rationalize the harsh punishments that followed disobedience to Augustus’ reform. Such punishments are understandable, the story teaches, given the abundance and extremities of evil. Later, when Jove is shown to be immoral himself, the point of the Lycaon story becomes a tu quoque argument—Jove himself is immoral, so isn’t it hypocritical of him to punish the world for immorality? Why not wipe him off the face of the earth?