ABSTRACT
The tabu against looking at a certain person or thing is widespread in folklore, and the list of persons or things that must not be viewed includes a deity, copulating snakes, and various supernatural creatures, including ghosts, fairies, supernatural husband or wife, and supernatural helpers. The looking tabu has three main scenarios: person voluntarily avoids the sight of the tabu object because it is too fearful to behold. The Greek myth of Orpheus is one of the most famous variants of the tabu against looking back, involving a journey to the underworld in order to fetch a dead loved one. The tabu against looking at a naked woman is embodied in a well-known legend attached to the city of Coventry in England, first written down in the late twelfth or early thirteenth century by Roger of Wendover. The townspeople of Coventry are suffering under a heavy tax, and Lady Godiva asks her husband to lessen their burden.
