Muscles of the eye. Illustration of a dissection of the eye,seen from the side,showing the surrounding bones (light brown) and the muscles (red) that control the movement of the eyeball and the upper eyelid. There are six extraocular muscles: the superior rectus,the inferior rectus,the lateral rectus,the medial rectus,the superior oblique (not clearly shown),the inferior oblique and the levator palpebrae superioris (raises the upper eyelid). The rectus muscles run horizontally backwards from the top,middle and bottom of the eye. Other structures shown include eyelashes,the bulge of the cornea at the front of the eye,the eyeball,and the optic nerve |