Neck Muscles Quiz – Side View and Front View

All 14 muscles on the diagram

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Side view 10

Sternocleidomastoid A large muscle with two heads. One comes from the top of the breastbone and one from the inner third of the collarbone. They join and climb slantwise to the bone behind the ear. One side alone tilts the head to that side and turns the face
Trapezius (traps) A large, flat, triangular muscle. In the neck it runs from the skull down to the shoulder, and its front edge is the back border of the space the smaller muscles lie in.
Splenius capitis It turns the head to its own side. It runs up from the spine at the base of the neck to the skull behind the ear. It makes part of the floor of the gap between the two big muscles.
Levator scapulae A strap that lifts the shoulder blade. It runs from the top four neck vertebrae down to the blade's upper corner.
Posterior scalene The deepest and smallest of three scalenes. Unlike the other two it ends on the second rib, which it lifts.
Middle scalene Largest and longest of the scalene trio. It runs from the side processes of the neck vertebrae down to the top of the first rib, which it lifts; one side alone bends the neck to that side.
Anterior scalene It runs from the neck vertebrae to the first rib. It lies under the sternocleidomastoid. It lifts that rib, and the pair together bend the neck forward.
Digastric Two bellies joined by a tendon. A sling holds it to the hyoid bone. The back belly comes from the bone behind the ear, the front belly from the inside of the chin. It lowers the jaw and lifts the hyoid.
Stylohyoid A thin strip just above the back belly of the digastric. It runs from a spike on the skull to the side of the hyoid bone and pulls the hyoid up and back at the start of a swallow.
Omohyoid Two bellies joined by a tendon tied down to the collarbone. The upper belly comes from the hyoid bone, the lower from the shoulder blade, and it crosses under the sternocleidomastoid. It pulls the hyoid down.

Front view 4

Mylohyoid A broad, triangular muscle that makes the floor of the mouth. It runs from the inside of the jawbone to the hyoid bone and lifts the hyoid and the floor of the mouth.
Sternohyoid A strap near the skin that pulls the hyoid down. It rises from the breastbone and the joint beside it to the hyoid bone.
Sternothyroid A wide muscle under the sternohyoid. It rises from the top of the breastbone and stops at the thyroid cartilage of the voice box, which it pulls down.
Thyrohyoid A short band from the thyroid cartilage up to the hyoid bone. It carries on from where the sternothyroid stops. It pulls the hyoid down, or lifts the voice box when the hyoid is held still.

How this list was compiled: Every name and detail line was checked on 2026-09-30 against Gray, Anatomy of the Human Body, 20th edition, 1918 (public domain), the chapters on the muscles of the neck, https://archive.org/details/anatomyofhumanbo00grayrich; TeachMeAnatomy, The Suprahyoid Muscles, https://teachmeanatomy.info/neck/muscles/suprahyoid-muscles/, The Infrahyoid Muscles, https://teachmeanatomy.info/neck/muscles/infrahyoid/, The Scalene Muscles, https://teachmeanatomy.info/neck/muscles/scalene/, The Posterior Triangle of the Neck, https://teachmeanatomy.info/neck/areas/posterior-triangle/, and its back muscle pages for the trapezius, levator scapulae and splenius capitis; and Kenhub, Neck muscles, https://www.kenhub.com/en/library/anatomy/muscles-of-the-neck-an-overview. The wording is in our own words. Licence: own work

The drawing: Drawn for this site on 2026-09-30 from plain geometry; nothing traced. Licence: own work

How it works

A neck drawn twice. The side drawing is the muscles of the neck lateral view labeled as you name them. The front drawing lifts the chin to show the muscles above and below the hyoid bone.

Read the full guide

Side view: two big muscles and the gap between

The sternocleidomastoid slants from behind the ear to the collarbone and the trapezius covers the back of the neck. In the gap between them, from the top: splenius capitis, levator scapulae and the three scalenes. Under the jaw are the digastric and the stylohyoid, and the omohyoid crosses low down.

Front view: above and below the hyoid

A lab sheet that says correctly label the following muscles of the neck usually shows this view. Above the hyoid bone the mylohyoid fills the arch of the jaw. Below it run the straps: sternohyoid and omohyoid near the skin, sternothyroid and thyrohyoid under them.

Read the names as addresses: sterno is the breastbone, thyro the thyroid cartilage, hyoid the small bone below the chin.
Anterior and middle scalene end on the first rib. Only the posterior scalene reaches the second.
Digastric and omohyoid each have two bellies with a tendon between them.

Questions and answers

What are the main muscles of the neck?

The sternocleidomastoid at the side and the trapezius at the back are the largest. Between them lie the splenius capitis, levator scapulae and three scalenes. In front, four muscles sit above the hyoid bone and four strap muscles below it.

What are the infrahyoid muscles?

Four strap muscles below the hyoid bone, in two layers: omohyoid and sternohyoid nearer the skin, sternothyroid and thyrohyoid under them. They pull the hyoid bone or the voice box down.

What are the suprahyoid muscles?

Four muscles above the hyoid bone: digastric, stylohyoid, mylohyoid and geniohyoid. They all lift the hyoid, which is part of swallowing. The geniohyoid lies above the mylohyoid, so it is hidden in these drawings.

What does the sternocleidomastoid do?

One side working alone tilts the head toward its own shoulder and turns the face to the opposite side. Both sides together bend the neck and bring the head toward the chest.