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Can you please explain why the congregation bows during the Divine Liturgy?

The bowing is in reverence to God. We bow before the sanctuary, and in public as well as private worship. In prayer, bowing signifies humility and respect for the Lord. When we bow we demean ourselves asking for God's mercy and the forgiveness of our sins. An example of bowing asking for mercy is when the priest prays, "Your people and Your church ask You and through You, the Father saying; "Have mercy upon us, o God the Father, the Pantocrator; have mercy upon us o God, our Savior; have mercy upon us o God, and have mercy."

Also we bow "in fear and trembling." The deacon following the Prayer of Sanctification, will call out, "Bow down to the Lord in fear and trembling...." while the priest kneels down in reverence praying, "we beseech You, O Lord our God, we Your undeserving sinful slaves, we kneel to You because it is Your good pleasure, may Your Holy Spirit descend upon us and upon this offering on the altar; may He purify it and change it, and make it holy for Your saints." Here we bow down in reverence to the coming down of the Holy Spirit upon the offerings and changing them to the Body and the Blood of our Savior. The same is true for bowing down when the priest says, "the Holy Body and the Precious Blood" and the whole congregation bow down in worship to the Holy Body and the Precious Blood.

After the fraction, the congregation also bows down because at that time the priest is praying the absolutions as a preparation before we receive the Holy Communion. Bowing down during the absolutions signifies our humbleness and confession that we are sinners just like the tax collector who could not raise his eyes to the heavens.
  
St Basil the Great had this to say about bowing: "Every time we bow or kneel on the ground, we indicate how sin has brought us down, and when we get up and stand, we acknowledge the grace of God and His mercy which lifted us up from the ground and granted us a portion in heaven."

Abraham bowed to the Hittites (Genesis 23:7) as a sign of his gratitude to them. Jacob too, bowed to Esau (Genesis 33:3) to absorb his brother's anger and intentions to take revenge.

In Church, we also have a type of "bowing ritual" on the Day of Pentecost in which special prayers are recited and the whole church kneels three times in memory of the descent of the Holy Spirit.