Well, he does have his flaws, so I do not know about good influence... [Like the gambling and tendency to torture people who didn't follow his god. But well, nobody is perfect.]

Synonym? I suppose it could be considered that in this case. when I say I come from a good family, it means not just our wealth, but our status and our history are all such, that it puts us in a different class for others. Something like that. You might think of it as being High Status, or High Class.