Re: tl;dr 1 of 2
As to specific examples, I am refering to patterns of worship/behaviors within the concept of worship that do not involve submission to the worshiped icon/entity.
To refine greatness, lets use the phrase "Superiority in status/power."
And, come to think on it, I should have used the word "Submissive" instead of Subservient.
They are elemental forces given personality, and Poseidon can no more stop being an asshole than the ocean can stop being dangerous during storms.
So, they're Godzilla?
Sorry, I had to make that analogy!
And so one worships them, because they're gods, that's what they're for. They are incalculably *more* and *other* and there's only one appropriate response. To some degree, as well, there's a sense of placation and supplication - respect and obey a god as you respect and obey your king, and like your king, the god may favor you and help you out or at least stay his wrath - but like your king, mostly you just respect and obey because he's a god, and that's the natural order of things.
And to me, both forms involve submissive behaviors. Even saying the phrase "Please don't hurt me" is a submissive stance.
There's no "earning" worship, no being "deserving" of respect, and there's no "subservience" any more than there's "subservience" between a frequently crappy but more-fair-than-not boss and his wary employees. It's just how things are, and you deal with it.
*headdesk*
Submissive behavior is a defense mechanism designed to placate. We behave in a subservient manner to avoid retaliation or to meet ends. So yes, you totally are expected to behave in a subservient manner to your boss. The act of reffering to said boss as "Sir" is both an acknowledgment of station and a submissive jesture -- especially because he does not return the phrase. Submission, in part, is the acknoweldgement or rank.
Another part is fear of reprisal. People with guns tend to illicite submissive reactions from those they point them at.