- There are 7 extraocular skeletal muscles
- They can be divided into groups:
- Recti and oblique muscles - responsible for eye movement
- Levator palpebrae superioris - responsible for superior eyelid movement

Recti muscles
- 'Straight' - direct path from origin to attachment
- Superior rectus, inferior rectus, medial rectus, lateral rectus
- Origin: all originate from common tendinous ring
- Insertion: all insert onto sclera
Oblique muscles
- Insert onto the eyeball at an oblique angle
- Inferior oblique and superior oblique
- Origin: superior oblique originates from sphenoid bone, inferior oblique originates from orbital plate of maxilla
- Insertion: both insert onto sclera
- The tendon of the superior oblique passes through a trochlea (loop of connective tissue) before inserting onto the eyeball
Levator palpebrae superioris muscle (LPS)
- The only muscle involved in raising the superior eyelid
- Origin: lesser wing of sphenoid
- Insertion: skin and tarsus of superior eyelid
Superior tarsal muscle
- A small portion of this muscle contains a collection of smooth muscle fibres, known as the superior tarsal muscle or Mueller's muscle, which assists the levator palpebrae superioris in opening the eyelid