 Born in 1940, Matthews was educated at The Queen's College, Oxford, completing undergraduate studies there and earning a DPhil in 1970.He held the Dyson Junior Research Fellowship in Greek Culture at Balliol College, Oxford, from 1965 to 1969, and was then elected an official fellow of Corpus Christi College, Oxford.He returned to The Queen's College in 1976, when he was elected a fellow.