While the Mahabharata may be read on many levels, the entire work is a study of kingship and of kingly rule. The Ramayana gives us the godly Ram as the ideal king, but the kings and princes who move through the pages of the Mahabharata are living and breathing human beings with all the sins and foibles of earthly mortals. They may do their best to rule as saintly or "godly" kings, but these royals are not god-kings in the sense of the Egyptian pharaohs, the Roman Caesars, or even the Incan Atahualpa.
From Shantanu - whose romantic love drives his lust for Satyavati - to the blind king Dhritarashtra, these are not absolute rulers and despots, but mortals. Yudhisthira is certainly not a man-god, nor does he strive to be. He is a philosopher king after the mold of Plato's Republic - trained to rule by Brahmanas and warlords alike. His own chagrin at the tragedy of Kurukshetra makes him a reluctant warlord - one who is eager for a rule based on peace.