Oedipus is a character from Greek mythology who unwittingly killed his father and married his mother, fulfilling a tragic prophecy.

The Oedipus complex, a concept in psychoanalytic theory introduced by Sigmund Freud, refers to a child's unconscious sexual desire for the opposite-sex parent and feelings of jealousy and rivalry toward the same-sex parent. This theory is named after Oedipus due to his inadvertent fulfillment of this type of familial desire and rivalry.