Tracing these concepts back to the Iliad is a bit pointless. In any event, the phenomonon of superheroes goes back to the fashion when it exploded in the late 1930s.
Most of the powered heroes appeared to be created with the interntion of feeding off the reputation in Superman:
"He's like Superman, except he's got a magic ring!"
"She's like Superman, but she's female!"
Non-powered heroes probably owe their existence to efforts to emulate Batman or Doc Savage.
