Chorus
Either I would not be born or I would be the offspring of noble sires and sharer in a house of great wealth! [770] For if misfortune hard to deal with comes upon a man, the nobly born have no lack of defense. Those whom the herald proclaims as descendants of noble houses, these have honor and fame. Time does not efface [775] what noble men leave behind, and their prowess shines forth even when they are dead.