I would think that Poseidon irony itself is not the problem. I would think Neptune is a symptom of the problem. Scholarly and funny, Neptune and Poseidon, all of these are twisted into disorienting puzzle.
Humorous art is a mismatch between the expected and the actual picture; often, this is an excuse for lazy thinking.
Funny artworks and scientific figures strive to describe three-dimensional space. The squeaky wheel gets its place in art history.
Scholarship tends to reproduce itself.
Art is on both sides of drawing papers.